Belarus and Iraq: a partnership built in the shadow of endless war
The Iran–Iraq war, the Gulf War, the 2003 U.S. invasion, the campaign against terrorism. People here live with the expectation of the next conflict. There has scarcely been a stretch of three years without one. And still they try simply to live.
Diplomatic relations between Belarus and Iraq were established on 26 December 1996. A film crew travelled to Baghdad to meet those who studied in Minsk and Mogilev, those who found love in Belarus, and those for whom that attachment became a reason to treat the country as a reliable economic partner.
“It all began in Mesopotamia: writing, the first codes of law, and so on,” said Anatoly Glaz, Belarus’s ambassador to Turkey and, concurrently, to Iraq. “Of course there was no modern Iraq then, and no modern Belarus. But history has given our countries many years of constructive cooperation. Our peoples were friends in different eras, including the Soviet period. What matters is this: on the road we have travelled together, we have never let each other down.”
Ayman al-Bakri says the average Iraqi family has three children; his has five. All his brothers and sisters have been to Belarus. “If a person comes to Belarus once, he will want to come again. Belarusians are very kind. They always help and answer questions.”
In Baghdad he is surrounded by close friends of Belarus. Ayman is both a guide to the capital and an interpreter. He trained as a linguist in Belarus and has lived there for almost 20 years, still visiting relatives in Baghdad.
“Minsk has so much greenery, culture, cleanliness. We have had so much war in Baghdad that a great deal has been destroyed. God willing, after the war we will return to how it used to be.”
Cleanliness and order, the report notes, are a Belarusian path as well. In spring Baghdad planted more than 300,000 heat-tolerant perennial trees — acacias and albizias — that withstand extreme heat, cast shade and clean the air. The capital is battered by sandstorms and needs constant watering. A city of 10 million still has no metro; construction is due to resume, a necessity in a city with four million registered cars.
“I like the look of Minsk very much,” said Ali al-Azzawi, deputy governor of Baghdad. “Every time I arrive I see how it is changing, how new districts are built, and to a very high standard. In Baghdad we want to do something on the Minsk model. Until 2003 our interstate relations were very good. We dream of returning to that level. That is what people want. We need everything. Iraq’s population is more than 43 million. We are interested in reopening the embassy and launching a direct flight.”
Restaurant director Taha al-Azzawi showed a business built over several generations: a fast-food chain across Baghdad, known for burgers and now shawarma, run as a closed cycle — farms, pasture, selected feed, fresh beef, vegetable plantations for sides. Iraqis, he says, like to eat well and eat a lot. About 700 people work for the company. Taha is preparing a trip to Minsk after learning of kitchen equipment that would suit him. Equipment is only part of it: he plans to open the same kind of restaurant in Mogilev.
“In Belarus everything is done by the law. When there is law, that is cool,” he said. He knows the country: he studied at the Belarusian-Russian University in Mogilev.
On one Baghdad site they still remember Belarusian designers, builders and engineers. Twenty of them put up housing in an elite district. Every apartment — some 260 square metres, finished — sold before handover. The interiors used modern technology; the best feature is the view of the Tigris.
Across the river, oil wells are due to be moved as the city builds out. The company director’s dream is a district where Belarusians would feel at home. He already has such a life in Belarus: his wife and children live there, and he visits often. Appearance is not enough. He wants Baghdad to have things that are Belarusian.
Private clinics are multiplying in Iraq, even though the law entitles citizens to free care in state hospitals. Years of conflict have drained the system, especially in the countryside as staff leave. Those who trained abroad and came home are in high demand. Toka Mushreq Alaa Hussein graduated from the Belarusian State Medical University in 2015 and went on to a candidate of sciences degree — 14 years in Minsk in all. He followed an older brother into BSMU. Theirs is a dynasty of dentists; their mother opened the clinic where he now works. Patients bring their children to the sons. A Belarusian diploma has become a tradition among other doctors there too.
Medicine and medicines matter. The Iraqi market is huge: more than 40 million people. Belarusian drug makers already supply the country, but in modest volumes, often via third countries. Direct shipments would shorten logistics and lock in quality.
“I am a clinical pharmacist and I have a pharmacy chain in Iraq. I am interested in different products. I can say for certain that everything produced in Belarus is high quality,” said Muhammad al-Qaissi, director of a pharmacy network.
Agreements have been reached to register three Belarusian pharmaceutical companies. The next stage is registration of the drugs themselves.
“First of all these are medicines needed to treat chronic disease, because Iraq is seeing a rise in deaths from non-communicable illness,” said Yuri Pokhodnya, director general of Beltfarmprom. “Cardiovascular drugs, treatments to control blood pressure, oncology, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.”
Minsk and Baghdad have often built ties against the grain: a hard region, logistics, payments, sanctions. Belarus still posts solid export figures to Iraq — pharmaceuticals, food including powdered infant formula, education, construction, help in modernising the power sector, industrial cooperation. An economy, the report argues, that rests on respect, trust and personal ties.