RA MFA and Armenian MPs react to Lukashenko's statements about Armenia

The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in an interview with Vladimir Solovyov, expressed an opinion that other post-Soviet republics, including Armenia, can join the Union State (between Belarus and Russia)․ "Armenia has nowhere to go. Do you think someone needs them? They saw it."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia reacted to the statement of the President of Belarus about Armenia.

"We are convinced that the geopolitical analysis of the President of Belarus pursues the goal of serving, first of all, its own internal political agenda and has nothing to do with Armenia and its foreign policy," RA MFA spokesperson told journalists.

Rustam Bakoyan, an MP from the "Civil Contract" faction addressed the statements of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko about Armenia.

"And who needs Lukashenko? His people asked him this rhetorical question. The processes that took place in that country were a clear assessment of the period of his tenure, what condition he held the country in and what happened," Bakoyan said.

Armenians and Belarusians are brotherly nations, and no statement can affect the friendship of these peoples, Acting Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan told reporters at a briefing, commenting on the recent statement of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

“We have heard such statements for many times. I want to emphasize that the Armenian and Belarusian peoples are brotherly nations, we have very close friendly ties. No statement can affect the friendship of these peoples. I see no reason to comment here. There have been many comments at different times,” Arshakyan said.

Vagharshak Hakobyan, member of NA "Civil Contract" faction, addressed the statements of Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus: "Yesterday, Mr Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, made unacceptable and inappropriate statements for the head of a state, in particular, saying things like "who needs Armenia" and so on, in an interview with Solovyov.

I want to note that those assessments are, in fact, reprehensible. The head of our partner country has no right to express such thoughts in relation to its partner country, and I want to remind who needed Armenia during the recent events in Kazakhstan, and I'm sure that Mr Lukashenko is well aware of who needed and who needs the Republic of Armenia," Hakobyan said.

RA MFA and MFA of Artsakh condemned the statement made by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan

"We strongly condemn the decision of the Azerbaijani authorities to establish a special commission tasked with, according to subsequent statements by officials, destroying the traces of the Armenian identity of cultural and religious monuments located in the territories of Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan. This serves as another convincing evidence of the fact that the Armenian cultural heritage that has come under the control of the Azerbaijani authorities is in real danger of being completely destroyed or torn off from their historical roots.

We have repeatedly stated that the falsification of history and the cultural genocide by Azerbaijan are an integral part of the broader anti-Armenian policy systematically pursued by Baku for several decades. If at the initial stage of the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict, manipulations with history and culture served as a justification for the deportation of the Armenian population from the former Azerbaijan SSR, now they are aimed at legitimizing the results of the illegal use of military force by Azerbaijan against Artsakh.

We once again call on the world community and specialized international organizations to urgently take all necessary measures to make Azerbaijan comply with its international obligations to preserve and respect the cultural heritage of the Armenian people and to fully implement the order of the International Court of Justice on provisional measures," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh issued a statement.

"We strongly condemn the statement made by the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Karimov (February 3) on the establishment of a working group for the destruction and alteration  of the identity of the Armenian religious and historical-cultural monuments fallen under the control of Azerbaijan.

This action of the Azerbaijani Government is a blatant defiance to the decision on application of provisional measures issued by the UN International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021, which clearly obliges Azerbaijan to; “Take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artifacts," RA MFA spokesperson addressed the statement of the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan.

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