Belarus Archives

Belarus dictatorship ready to supply weapons to Azerbaijan

November 19, 2018 by administrator

Belarus and Azerbaijan are preparing a contract for the supply of the next batch of Belarusian military equipment, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told reporters after talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

According to BelTA, the two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding between the State Military Industrial Committee of Belarus and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan on bilateral cooperation in the supply of weapons and air defense equipment.

“In the shortest possible time it will be transformed into a contract to purchase another consignment of military equipment from Belarus,” Ilham Aliyev said.

According to him, Azerbaijan is satisfied with the cooperation with Belarus in this area because its products are effective and of very high quality.

“It is no coincidence that military technical cooperation between our countries has a long history. It is characterized by big volumes and a good trend towards expansion,” the president said.

Azerbaijan-Belarus cooperation conflicts with Armenia’s interests – analyst

June 29, 2017 by administrator

Azerbaijan and Belarus are developing not only economic but also political cooperation, which does not absolutely meet Armenia’s interests, a political analyst said Wednesday, commenting on a recent bilateral arrangement signed on the sidelines of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Speaking to Tert.am, Armen Badalyan also noted that the deal should not be treated as something very logical in the light of the two countries’ long history of partnership.

“If you remember, the Belarusian president was honored with a medal by [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aiyev. And thereby [Alexander] Lukashenko promised to ‘justify’ his honor,” he told Tert.am.

The expert cited the deep economic ties as a key reason behind the close cooperation. He noted that Belarus repeatedly before aided Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijan mutually providing financial assistance to the country.

“Even within the frameworks of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] – of which Azerbaijan is a member – we have numerously seen the impact and product of this cooperation. Very often, it had an underlying pretext, which was the policy of not defending Russia. Being under Russian influence and pressures, Belarus many times received assistance from Azerbaijan. Therefore, this is not only an economic but also a political cooperation,” he added.

Meantime, Badalyan did not rule out the possibility of anti-Armenian processes and initiatives attracting Belarus as a supporting country.

“Azerbaijan uses and will use any international platform to pass resolutions against Armenia. And there are high chances that Belarus will vote in favor of those measures,” he noted.

Lapshin’s Case Again Brings the Issue of Signing the RA-NKR Mutual Military Aid Agreement on the Agenda

February 13, 2017 by administrator

By Greta Avetisyan

(Armedia) The extradition of Lapshin and the developments around it have become one of the main topics of discussion recently. The claims that the extradition of the famous blogger is a violation of fundamental freedoms, that this is a result of Azerbaijani-Belarusian bilateral agreement raise no doubts. It is also obvious that the incident connected with Lapshin is another provocation by Azerbaijan and the target is not Lapshin, but Armenia and Artsakh.

If in case of Armenia Azerbaijan intends to make it resort to provocative actions and come up with destructive position, in case of Artsakh Azerbaijan’s aim is its isolation.

Azerbaijan has always responded to any international visit to Artsakh quite toughly, and if previously that response was limited with several announcements and with including several people in their “black list”, now, after carrying out the “operation” of extradition of Lapshin, Azerbaijan tries to threaten those, who have visited or intend to visit Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Azerbaijan’s policy which attempts to isolate Artsakh society may give rise to certain concern among the Artsakh people of being isolated from the world, as well as a fear of increase of threat to their security.

In such a case, perhaps, it is necessary to again consider the issue of signing RA-NKR mutual military aid agreement, which will become another security guarantee for NKR people hitting the attempts of Azerbaijan’s isolation policy. In this regard it is important that the mutual military aid agreement includes a corresponding provision, which will fix that an attack on one side would mean attack on the other side.

Greta Avetisyan

Source: http://armedia.am/eng/news/45191/lapshins-case-again-brings-the-issue-of-signing-the-ra-nkr-mutual-military-aid-agreement-on-the-agenda.html

Belarusian president put Russian blogger up for auction, but turned out self-deceiver – Viktor Konoplev

February 12, 2017 by administrator

It is true that Belarus’ relations with Azerbaijan are at a higher level that with Armenia, Belarusian public figure Viktor Konoplev told Tert.am as he commented on official Minsk’s decision to extradite blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan.

The explanation is a simple one.

“Azerbaijan is richer and Belarus can export more of its products, including military goods, there. Time and again, when in conflict with Russia, Belarus imports Azerbaijani oil. In 2010, when Belarus had to pay its gas debts to Russia, Azerbaijan gave it a loan,” he said.

Mr Konoplev has a very simple explanation for extradition of blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan.

“At his press conference on February 3, [President Alexander] Lukashenko made the following comment on the situation: ‘when the issue emerged, I saw there was such a man.’ I instructed our foreign office: ‘listen, to avoid a scandal, try to coordinate it with the foreign ministers of Israel, Russia and Azerbaijan, for him not to become a hostage. If Israel, Azerbaijan and Russia reach an agreement, we’ll do what they agree on. But none of them wanted to agree.’

“If we translate this somewhat vague answer from language of diplomacy into our everyday language, I think the situation was as follows: after ordering Mr Lapshin arrested at Azerbaijan’s request, Lukashenko put him up for auction – which side and what would give Belarus in exchange for him. That is, ‘what could you pay us for setting Lapshin free – oil, gas or a loan? Lukashenko is highly experienced in trading in political prisoners.

“But Lukashenko was erroneous at his point. None wanted to pay, and the Belarusian leader fell into a trap of self-deception. What could he do in such a situation? After saying ‘A’ you have to say ‘B’. If a person has been arrested, with no one willing to stand bail for him, they had nothing else to do, but hand him over to Azerbaijan. If we recall Lukashenko’s statement saying that he could not let Lapshin free: ‘It has now been made public. If it had not been made public, I would have got to thinking.’”

Mr Konoplev believes it is a diplomatic setback for Belarus because official Minsk sacrificed its relations with not only Armenia, but also Russia and Israel to good relations with Azerbaijan.

What is the difference between the current Belarusian-Russian conflict and the previous ones? It is primarily its historical context.

First, Russia is much more often using strong-arm methods in its foreign policy, which caused the Ukraine crisis and ‘a cold war’ with the West.

Secondly, Belarus remains neutral in Russia’s conflicts with the rest of the world.

Thirdly, the decline is global oil prices caused an economic crisis in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and scaled down Russia’s energy grant to Belarus.

Fourthly, all that overlapped a grave crisis of the Belarusian model of society.

Tigranuhi Martirosyan

Prominent Ukrainian author seized in Belarus, ordered to leave

February 12, 2017 by administrator

A noted Ukrainian poet and novelist says he was seized by security agents in the middle of the night while visiting the capital of Belarus and ordered to leave the country, The Associated Press reports.

In a posting on a social media website, Serhiy Zhadan said Saturday, February 11 that police confronted him in his hotel room in Minsk about 2 a.m.

“Nothing was explained … I had to spend the night in a cell,” he wrote. He said he was later informed by the country’s security agency, the KGB, that he was not allowed to be in Belarus because Russia in 2015 banned him for alleged participation in terrorist activities.

Belarus and Russia share a visa regime.

Zhadan’s work, which critics have compared to that of William Burroughs and Beat writers, criticizes post-Soviet society.

Several days ago, Belarus extradited Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan as he had visited Nagorno Karabakh and written posts critical of Azerbaijani authorities.

Lapshin, 40, divides his time between Israel and a few other places. He was arrested on December 15 in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, at the request of Azeri authorities who demanded his extradition. The arrest was made one day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

Lapshin was arrested following his visits to Karabakh as well as due to critical posts in his Russian-language blog against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Top Armenian military rejects Minsk invite as he “has visited Karabakh”

February 10, 2017 by administrator

A top Armenian military official has rejected an invitation to participate in the 90th anniversary of the formation of Belarusian DOSAAF as he “has visited Nagorno Karabakh.”

DOSAAF is the Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Fleet.

Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (Komandos), who heads the Armenian DOSAAF, is currently supervising the training of specialists in the Armenian armed forces.

He is known as the “mastermind of Shushi liberation,” having been named commander of the operation (dubbed Wedding in Mountains) to seize the strategic town in Karabakh.

In a Facebook post, Komandos said he had to reject the invitation as he “had been to Nagorno Karabakh.”

The extradition by Minsk of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan has strained diplomatic ties between Armenia and Belarus.

Lapshin was arrested following his visits to Karabakh as well as due to critical posts in his Russian-language blog against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Armenia protests against extradition of blogger Lapshin arrested in Belarus to Azerbaijan

February 9, 2017 by administrator

Armenia condemned yesterday the attitude of Belarus, a member of two Russian alliances of former Soviet states, for arrested and extradited to Azerbaijan a Russian-Israeli blogger who visited Nagorno-Karabakh several times .

A senior representative of the Republican Party criticized Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and said Yerevan should demand the expulsion of Belarus from one of these blocs: the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Blogger Alexander Lapshin was transported to Baku on Tuesday evening, just after the Belarus Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision authorizing his extradition to Azerbaijan because of his trips to Karabagh. Lukashenko had predicted such a verdict late last week as he firmly defended Lapshin’s arrest in Minsk.

“The persecution of Alexander Lapshin and his extradition to Azerbaijan is a blatant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of speech and movement,” said Tigran Balayan, spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry .

Balayan expressed confidence at the same time that the precedent established by the Belarusian authorities would not discourage foreigners from visiting Karabagh without Baku’s permission. “There is no doubt that the influx of political and public personalities, artists, journalists and tourists into Artsakh will not stop but, on the contrary, will multiply,” he said. a statement.

The extradition of Lapshin provoked a storm of criticism in the Armenian Parliament yesterday morning. Deputies representing the HHK launched unprecedented verbal attacks against Lukashenko. The deputy speaker of parliament, Eduard Sharmazanov, who is also the main spokesman for the HHK, said it was the result of a “dirty deal” with Baku.

“As Co-Chair of the Armenian-Belarusian Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, I say on behalf of our committee that this is a shameful decision that does not stem from the logic of a peaceful settlement of Karabakh,” insisted Sharmazanov in the Parliament. “It is a movement against Russia, Armenia, and the peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

“No democratic regime could have taken such a step,” Sharmazanov added, clearly referring to the fact that Lukashenko has long been heavily criticized by Western powers and non-governmental watchdogs regarding human rights.

Vahram Baghdasarian, parliamentary leader of the HHK, accused Lukashenko of extraditing Lapshin to Azerbaijan in exchange for an Azerbaijani state medal he received from President Ilham Aliyev during a visit to Baku in November . The blogger was arrested two weeks after the visit.

Baghdasarian rejected some calls by opposition politicians to Armenia to suspend its membership in the CSTO. “We should rather raise the issue of ending Belarus’s membership in the CSTO,” he said.

The Russian government has on several occasions warned Minsk against the extradition of its citizen. The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed yesterday its “deep disappointment”, saying that the extradition “does not correspond to the spirit of the alliance between Russia and Belarus.”

The Azerbaijani authorities claiming that Lapshin illegally entered the “occupied territories of Azerbaijan” when he visited Karabakh in 2011 and 2012 without their authorization. The 40-year-old, who holds Israeli, Russian and Ukrainian passports, has written extensive travel reports on his Russian-language blog.

Baku officially listed 600 non-Armenian foreigners who traveled to Karabakh from Armenia. The black list includes 180 journalists.

Alexander Lapshin’s attorneys file complaint in Belarus Supreme Court

February 9, 2017 by administrator

The attorneys of blogger Alexander Lapshin arrested in Minsk have filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of Belarus.

Earlier, Alexander Lapshin also filed a similar complaint in the Court.

Lapshin’s attorney told Armenian News – NEWS.am that the complaints have been filed and registered.

Under the Belarusian legislation, the attorney and his/her client shall not take part in the consideration of the complaint. They will be notified about the judgment of the court.

Currently, Russia and Israel are trying to achieve the cancellation of the decision on extraditing Lapshin.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, Alexander Lapshin was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan. In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan, but with a Ukrainian passport. Subsequently, he issued several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities. Afterward, the Azerbaijani authorities issued an international search for this famous blogger. And on December 15, 2016, he was detained in the Belarus capital city of Minsk, and based on this international search.

On January 26, the Minsk city court dismissed the complaint of blogger Alexander Lapshin over the decision of the Belarusian prosecutor’s office to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

Israeli Blogger Alexander Lapshin become victim of Azerbaijan and Belarus dictatorship

February 9, 2017 by administrator

Israeli Blogger Jailed in Belarus Extradited to Azerbaijan
Joint Israeli, Russian efforts have failed to prevent the deportation of Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan, which he has criticized in posts.
Lapshin’s Extradition to Baku Widely Criticized,

The Belarus Supreme Court denied Lapshin’s appeal on the extradition verdict issued by the General Prosecutor of Belarus.

Lapshin faces up to 5 years imprisonment in Azerbaijan, under charges of “public calls against the state”, and “unauthorized crossing of borders”.

Belarus police arrested Alexander Lapshin on December 15, 2016 in Minsk. Lapshin, a Russian and Israeli citizen, resides in Moscow and writes for the famous Russian Travel Blog. He is wanted by Azerbaijan for visiting Nagorno Karabakh in 2011, 2012 and 2016, and criticizing Azerbaijan’s policy in his blog.

Baku demanded the extradition of Lapshin from Belarus.

Earlier it was reported that the Deputy Prosecutor General of Belarus has made a decision to uphold the request of Azerbaijan’s General Prosecutor on extraditing Citizen of Russia and Israel Alexander Lapshin, who is wanted for violating Articles 281.2 and 318.2 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on February 3 : “Belarus has no grounds to not extradite Lapshin to Azerbaijan”. He said the issue will be solved based on law and international agreements.

The Russian foreign ministry said it is inadmissible to extradite Russian citizens to third countries.