Eurasianet

They are supporting Tofig Yagublu, already in frail health from previous stints in prison, who has vowed to go hungry “till the end."

In his first remarks about the monthlong blockade, Aliyev denied there was a blockade, pointing to Russian peacekeeping vehicles’ use of the road.

Advocates say they’re emulating the best Western practices. Critics fear the inspiration comes from Russia.

The move comes as Yerevan-Moscow relations have been heading south quickly.

The row over Russian troops stationed in the country comes as Yerevan calls for Moscow to step in and prevent a worsening humanitarian crisis in the breakaway region.

Many Armenians are wary of restoring ties with a traditional archrival.

The country’s revenues from oil and gas, on which its economy depends, grew significantly in 2022, a benefit of the sanctions on fellow hydrocarbon producer Russia.

Azerbaijan has long opposed reestablishing air transit to and from Karabakh, though, and argues that it is Armenians who are refusing its offers to allow traffic on the road to resume.

In the wake of the reported diplomatic breakdown, accounts have varied over how much credit – or blame – to assign to Azerbaijan, Russia, and France.

Today hundreds of Georgians are sneaking into the U.S. from Mexico, but one Georgian who blazed that trail 20 years ago is now able to tell her story.

With Azerbaijani demonstrators settling in for the long haul on the Lachin Corridor, Armenia is questioning whether Moscow is willing or able to end the standoff.

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, one of the government’s most vocal critics, was charged with hooliganism in a case many believe is connected to his activism. Now he’s on a hunger strike.

Disappointed with stagnation at home, Georgians are increasingly forging an illegal path to the United States.

The former president has been hospitalized for months.

Vasif Talibov, “khan” of “Azerbaijan’s North Korea,” has long been accused of exercising his totalitarian impulses.

Azerbaijanis promise that Armenians can pass along the road. But for Armenians, the conditions are politically unacceptable.

The closure of the Lachin Corridor a week ago has left the region struggling to secure enough food, medicine and fuel.

The territory has imposed price controls and rationing, and Azerbaijan has demanded that it be allowed to set up border and customs checkpoints on the road connecting it to Armenia.

The ongoing blockade has exposed the vagueness of the peacekeepers’ mandate, an uncertainty Baku is seeking to exploit.

The government has been facing calls, including from its American and European allies, to ensure that the former president is being adequately treated. But it accuses Saakashvili of faking his condition.

The region is newly strategic as Russia’s war shifts attention to the so-called Middle Corridor.

Residents of the territory reported disrupted deliveries of food and heating gas, and hundreds blocked from returning home, as the numbers of Azerbaijani protesters on the scene grew.

The blockade appears to be part of an increasing pressure campaign on the road and the Armenians who depend on it, and the protesters appeared to be ready to stay.

As Georgia sees a surge in demand for cargo transit amid the Ukraine war, the government hopes to resume construction of a controversial deep sea port.

Baku is doubling down on claims Armenia is transporting weapons along the only road in or out of the region; Yerevan says the Azerbaijanis are faking the evidence.