The prime minister has long had a confrontational attitude toward critical press. Now he has escalated the fight by involving the security services and arresting the operator of a satirical site.
As Armenia and the other CSTO member states appear increasingly at loggerheads about who should lead the group, Russia has resigned itself to letting no one have the position.
Washington is increasingly assertive in its criticism of Armenia’s ties with Russia and Iran, but it’s not clear whether it has the clout to do anything about Yerevan’s allies.
Conflicts over the informal ban flare up occasionally, but this one is unusual in that it is taking place against the backdrop of warming Baku-Moscow ties.
Several political prisoners and activists have declared hunger strikes in solidarity, and both the government and opposition have slammed the Western response.
A number of recent personnel moves, softened rhetoric and positive statements suggest a new willingness in Baku to reach out to Armenia’s new authorities.
A new generation of Azerbaijanis is growing up with no firsthand memory of the land from which their parents were displaced, and which the government vows to take back.
While official Baku and its friendly media sharply criticized the elections and Armenia’s new leadership, some in the country expressed optimism that the door to a peace deal may have opened, if only a crack.
The formerly ruling Republican Party is on life support, but it has provided a useful foil for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and sparring between the two has dominated the parliamentary election campaign.
