Фото: Пул первого
Alyaksandr Lukashenka told Kyrgyz media in Bishkek how Kurmanbek Bakiyev lives. He also praised how Kyrgyzstan is making use of its position amid sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, while boasting that he “tore off a piece” from Russia for Kyrgyzstan’s sake.
“Bakiyev is living well too. He is fine. We won’t let him go back to you anymore. I told him: ‘No more trips, that’s enough! Live in Belarus.’ He lives normally. I sometimes visit him when he invites me. So we will not give him back to you.
But he suffers a lot and misses his country. He keeps telling me he would at least like to visit his father’s grave. Well, it’s disgraceful that Kyrgyz people cannot allow their president to visit his father’s grave. I think we will resolve this issue with the current leadership,” he said, responding to the relevant question, as reported by BelTA.
Kurmanbek Bakiyev was president of Kyrgyzstan from 2005 to 2010. He came to power on the wave of the so-called Tulip Revolution against Askar Akayev. Five years later he left his post after opposition protests. Bakiyev then moved to Belarus. Kyrgyzstan repeatedly requested his extradition, but the requests were denied. Several verdicts have been issued against him in absentia. According to investigators, Bakiyev has held Belarusian citizenship since 2010. This March, current Kyrgyz president Sadyr Japarov said negotiations were underway with Belarus regarding Bakiyev’s return.
Lukashenka also remarked that relations between Belarus and Kyrgyzstan remain strong.
“The most important thing is that we preserved everything we had in Soviet times. Remember, we even bought beet seeds from you — small things like that — because we couldn’t produce them ourselves. The climate wasn’t right. We even preserved that, not to mention supplying our machinery here and so on. Over the past year or two you have become much wealthier — significantly. I noticed you are building a lot. Well done! For obvious reasons. We and the Russians ended up under sanctions. And Kyrgyzstan — well done — took advantage of this and did the right thing,” he said.
“Another point, so that you understand our relations: when the Ukrainians began destroying infrastructure facilities in Russia, primarily oil refineries, you ran out of fuel. Of course, we supply a lot to the Russians under our obligations — we have two powerful plants — but the Kyrgyz asked for help: ‘No fuel!’ We responded, agreed with Vladimir Vladimirovich, tore off a piece from the Russians, and cooperated with you. Our relations are very close and friendly,” he added.