{"id":86315,"date":"2024-05-21T14:54:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T11:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/86315\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T14:54:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T11:54:29","slug":"lukasenka-snubs-armenia-by-visiting-nagorno-karabakh","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/86315\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka snubs Armenia by visiting Nagorno-Karabakh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During his stay in Azerbaijan last week, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh and made controversial statements that might have angered Armenia, Georgia and Russia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk dumps Armenia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Complex and contradictory geopolitical processes are unfolding in the South Caucasus after Azerbaijan\u2019s recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic Armenians in September 2023.

The region is unstable as there is still no peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has reached out to the West for support.

Belarus has always tried to strike a balance in its friendships with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh required Minsk to tread a careful line of neutrality and maintain good relations with both sides.

However, Minsk has eventually dumped Armenia in favor of Azerbaijan for obvious reasons. Azerbaijan is richer and has oil, so Minsk is hoping to benefit economically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk’s ties with Baku have always been better than with Yerevan, even though Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan, is Minsk’s ally in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

But \u0141uka\u0161enka is at odds with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power on the wave of anti-government protests. Other authoritarian rulers too look down on Pashinyan as a stranger.

Last year, during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Belarusian state media openly criticized Armenia and backed Azerbaijan.

Armenia has frozen its CSTO membership and reached out to the West for help in a move that must have infuriated both Minsk and Moscow.

Belarus and Azerbaijan, on the other hand, have similar authoritarian regimes and their leaders get along quite well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We communicate like brothers,” \u0141uka\u0161enka said. “Belarus and Azerbaijan are two reliable friends,” Aliyev echoed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s remarks to hurt Armenians, others<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some of \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s actions and statements in Azerbaijan were provocative, to put it mildly.

For Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh is an open wound. Some 100,000 Armenians were displaced before and after Azerbaijan took control of the region. Yerevan is likely to take the arrival of a foreign leader in Nagorno-Karabakh as an insult.

Not only \u0141uka\u0161enka went there, but he congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on his victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The fact that you have returned the lands, revived them, will remain for centuries, for long times,” he said. “Those who shoot at icons and monuments are barbarians,” he continued, in an apparent reference to Armenians. 

\u0141uka\u0161enka’s compliment may also anger other leaders in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Thank God that a very powerful, normal leader has emerged in Azerbaijan. You are capable of controlling the Caucasus region,” he said.

“You are responsible not only for Azerbaijan; you are already responsible for the situation in the Caucasus as a whole. . . . You are responsible for the Caucasus region as a leader.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provocative statements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka’s ill-timed visit to Nagorno-Karabakh will definitely strain Minsk’s relations with Armenia.

Tbilisi, too, is unlikely to be thrilled with the emergence of the new leader in the Caucasus.

\u0141uka\u0161enka’s statement might have surprised Moscow as well. Since the conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, Russia has considered the whole region a sphere of its geopolitical interests.

The Kremlin was not happy with the alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which resulted in Armenia\u2019s defeat. Moscow must be annoyed that its ally, \u0141uka\u0161enka, put Aliyev in charge of the Caucasus, half of which is in Russia.

Aliyev ignored the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow this year or last year, obviously distancing himself from Russia.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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