Kyrgyz embassy in Belarus reopens after three-year break
RFE/RL based on reporting by TASS and Interfax 7 October 2015, 16:56
The Kyrgyz Embassy in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, has reopened three years after the Kyrgyz ambassador was recalled.
Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry spokesman Nurlan Suierkulov said on October 7 that Kyrgyz Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev presented his credentials to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka earlier in the week.
The Kyrgyz ambassador was recalled from Minsk in August 2012 after Belarus had refused to extradite ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev and several members of his family.
Bakiev was sentenced to life in prison in absentia after being convicted of involvement in the killing of almost 100 protesters during the uprising that ousted Bakiev in 2010.
Bakiev, some of his relatives, and other associates have been residing in Belarus since then.
Minsk has rejected several official requests by Bishkek to extradite Bakiev and the others living with him in Belarus.
Earlier this year, Kyrgyzstan officially joined the Eurasian Economic Union that comprises Belarus, Russia, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.
