Relations between

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

are at very high level that Belarusian president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

describes Azerbaijan as a "saver" of independence and sovereignty of Belarus and adds that "there's not anything close" in Azerbaijani-Belarusian relations. Both countries were part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

until 1918 and before 1991, they were part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Azerbaijan has an embassy in Minsk and Belarus has an embassy in Baku. Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Azerbaijan is a full member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, Belarus is a candidate. Both Azerbaijan and Belarus are full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). There are more than 6,000 Azerbaijanis living in Belarus. In terms of political sense, Azerbaijan has a partial pro-Western government aligned with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(both the latter are

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

members) while Belarus is allied politically and economically with Russia.

Recent political relations

Official welcoming ceremony was held for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko 20

Diplomatic relations between two republics established in 1993 but two countries started to get close during past decade.

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution of Azerbaijan, Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of Executive (government), executive power, co ...

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

paid a visit to Belarus on October 17–18, 2006 which was the first high level visit of Azerbaijan. During the visit nine bilateral documents were signed. Lukashenko also paid a visit to Baku and met with Prime Minister of Azerbaijan

Artur Rasizade Artur Tahir oghlu Rasizade (; born 26 February 1935) is an Azerbaijani politician who served as the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan from 1996 until 2018 under the authoritarian regimes of Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev. Thomas de Waal writ ...

, he visited

Heydar Aliyev Foundation The Heydar Aliyev Foundation () is a private foundation headed by Azerbaijan's First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. The foundation is named after Azerbaijan's former president, Heydar Aliyev – the father of the incumbent president Ilham Aliyev. The fo ...

, and took part in the official opening ceremony of the national exhibition of Belarus in Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Belarus, like all other members of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, does not recognize The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Alexander Lukashenko have stated that Belarus takes a neutral side on this conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and supports peaceful resolution. However, some Belarusian political experts claim that Belarus is "clearly siding" with Azerbaijan and supports Azerbaijan's position.

Economic relations

The Agreement on socio-economic cooperation is the main document defining the perspectives of bilateral relations between the Azerbaijan and Belarus for the period up to 2015. Between 2008 and 2010, Belarus-Azerbaijan trade grew from US$100 m to US$146 m. More important than this moderate increase is the fact that Belarus enjoys a trade surplus, which helps to counteract its immense foreign trade deficit. Belarus-Azerbaijan trade might reach $800m in 2011. Azerbaijan is also helping Belarus to acquire alternative oil sources. Minsk recently began importing oil from

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

but direct shipments to landlocked Belarus are difficult. Baku thus agreed to swap schemes by which Minsk gains access to Azerbaijani oil in exchange for Venezuelan oil. By mid-July, the Mozyr refinery in Belarus is scheduled to start processing significant volumes of oil from Azerbaijan on a regular basis. Test shipments of Azerbaijani oil have been ongoing since February through Ukraine's Odesa-Brody pipeline and the Brody-Mozyr section of the Druzhba pipeline.

Military cooperation

The acceleration of the relations between Defense Ministries of both countries is in the interest of both sides. Azerbaijan has been described as largest weapons buyer of Belarus. On 14 November 2008, Belarus and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on military cooperation.Trend Article on Belarus, Azerbaijan Sign Agreement on Military Cooperation
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Humanitarian area

Cultural relations are at stable level. Azerbaijani and Belarusian cinematographers constantly take an active part in film festivals held in both countries. On May 22–24, 2007 ''Azerbaijan Culture Days'' were held in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

and

Bobruysk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina River. Babruysk oc ...

. However, current level of relations in tourism and education remains as weak. Azerbaijani diaspora organizations remains active. Former

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i ambassador to Belarus is Azerbaijani-born

Yosef Shagal Yosef Shagal (; born 25 March 1949) is an Israeli politician and former journalist, of Azerbaijani Jewish origin. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Russian-immigrant dominated Yisrael Beiteinu between 2006 and 2009. From 2012 until 2015 ...

. Azerbaijanis appear in Belarusian popular culture as well that Belarusian singer of Azerbaijani origin

Gunesh Abasova Gunesh Alisafayevna Abasova (; , ''Güneš Alisafaěwna Abasava''; born 1979), often known simply as Gunesh, is a Belarusian-Azerbaijani singer-songwriter. She represented Belarus in the Turkvision Song Contest 2013 with the song "". Early life ...

was awarded with "State of Award of Republic of Belarus". One of the most known TV hosts in Belarus Leila Ismailаva is also an Azerbaijani.

References

External links

Embassy of Azerbaijan in MinskJoint issue of Azerbaijan and Belarus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azerbaijan-Belarus relations

Bilateral relations of Belarus