Armenians had been using the road to bypass a blockade on the main road, the Lachin Corridor. The move drew a rare rebuke from the Russian peacekeepers.
The U.S. and Russia have both made high-level contact with Armenian and Azerbaijani officials as the rhetoric from Baku is getting increasingly bellicose.
It was unclear on whose behalf the former secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was visiting, and what it portended for Armenia’s geopolitical orientation.
Five were killed in the shootout, which occurred four days after the most public meeting yet between Azerbaijani and Karabakhi Armenian representatives.
Armenians declared victory in the case, but Azerbaijan already denies that it is blockading the road to Karabakh and it's not clear how the ruling will be enforced.
Baku appears to be retreating from the grand vision of a corridor connecting the Turkic world for the sake of a more local strategic goal: cementing control over Karabakh.
Armenian experts expect Yerevan and Ankara will continue to take small steps toward each other. But Baku is unlikely to sit idly by as its top strategic partner and its archrival seek an understanding.
The government’s drive to secure the right to censor – and even shut down – the internet during martial law worries IT experts and human rights defenders.
The Armenian banking sector is booming thanks to the influx of Russian capital due to the war in Ukraine. But only a paltry amount is entering the Armenian economy.
Dependent on outside aid and braced for renewed clashes with Azerbaijan, there are fears Karabakh Armenians might soon be forced out of the breakaway region for good.