Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have agreed to a peace deal to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the deal, Armenia will hand control of several territories to Azerbaijan but the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh is undefined. 

Russian peacekeepers have already entered Nagorno Karabakh to oversee the deal.

Read all of our coverage of the war including our Voices for Peace series.

Latest stories: 

• Armenia and Azerbaijan agree peace deal over Nagorno-Karabakh
• Common Ground: Anti-War Statement
• Opinion | ‘We did not speak, we only whispered’
• Evidence mounts of war crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh
• Aliyev and Pashinyan mark ‘red lines’ in interviews with RIA Novosti
• Azerbaijani peace activists called for questioning
• Opinion | On the importance of losing
• Opinion | How I learned not to hate
• Opinion | We are a generation of war
• Opinion | To stand for peace, in spite of everything
• Analysis | A dangerous turn in a 30-year conflict
• Under fire in Stepanakert

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

Azerbaijan opens criminal case into ‘mercenaries from Abkhazia’

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal investigation into a group of people from Abkhazia who they said took part in the war on the Armenian side.

‘At the urging and leadership of Seyran Kocamanyan, Galust Trapizonyan and others living in Abkhazia, Georgia, more than 20 people met with the leaders of the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh” regime in October 2020 and discussed their participation in hostilities’, they said in a statement.

They said they were bringing charges of aggressive warfare, premeditated murder by a criminal organisation, and illegal border crossing against the group.

Azerbaijan establishing state structures and communication in Shusha

Azerbaijani officials have announced that local branches of Azerbaijan's State Security Service (SSS) have started operating in Jabrayil (Jrakan), Zangilan (Kovsakan), Fuzuli. The Shusha (Shushi) city office of the SSS has been established and will reportedly be operational in the coming days.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has stated that the relocation of the Shusha Police Department to the city has started. Azerbaijan’s mobile telecommunications company Azercell has also reportedly  installed a 4G network in the city.

Up to 1,000 protesters have gathered at Yerevan’s Freedom Square

Photo: Dvin Titizian/OC Media.A group of up to 1,000 protesters demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation have gathered at Yerevan’s Freedom Square. The situation is peaceful, with low police presence. 

Small protest organised by Sasna Tsrer party dispersed from Yerevan’s Freedom Square

A small protest organised by the opposition Sasna Tsrer party at Yerevan’s Freedom Square was dispersed by police.  A number of protestors were reportedly detained.

A separate, larger protest against is currently taking place in another part of the city. 

Could the opposition oust Nikol Pashinyan through parliament?

Armenia’s only two opposition factions in parliament have said they want to remove the Armenian Prime Minister from office, but how would that look in practice?

Read more: Could the opposition oust Nikol Pashinyan through parliament?

Protest underway in Yerevan

A protest by Armenian opposition supporters who demand the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and have criticised the recent peace deal is taking place in central Yerevan. At the moment, the protest is several hundred strong and there is a very heavy police presence.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia: Turkish peacekeeping efforts will be limited to a joint monitoring centre

In an interview with Russian news channel RBC, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbul Oglu, said that Turkish peacekeeping efforts will be limited to a joint Russian-Turkish monitoring centre located on the territory of Azerbaijan. 

‘There is not a discussion about bringing in peacekeepers, that is, Turkish soldiers. There is a discussion about technical control of implementing peacekeeping duties’, the ambassador said.

Nikol Pashinyan: Peace deal ‘does not imply a final solution to the Karabakh conflict’

Reproduced below are key translated excerpts from an address given by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan this morning.

On the peace deal:  

‘This document (the peace agreement) does not imply a final solution to the Karabakh conflict.  This document is about ending the war in Karabakh.  The Karabakh conflict was not resolved then, and it is not resolved now.’

On peacekeepers: 

‘Russian peacekeepers will ensure the stability of the road connecting Stepanakert and Yerevan, including part of that road near Shushi (Shusha).’

On the road connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan through Armenia’s Province of Meghri: 

‘Meghri will not be surrendered.  All we are talking about is the opening of regional transport communications. This means unblocking transportation routes from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan and from Yerevan to Syunik through Nakhijevan, including the railroad to Iran. which can have an important impact on our country’s future economic development.’

On reconstruction in Nagorno-Karabakh: 

‘Residents of territories in Karabakh which remain under the control of the Armenian forces and where Russian peacekeepers will be stationed, have to return to their homes as soon as possible. The authorities of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will do everything possible to restore what was destroyed and create all the conditions for life.’ 

On the status of Nagorno-Karabakh: 

‘Armenia continues to insist on international recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. The status of Karabakh is of fundamental importance right now. Recognition of Artsakh's independence remains a priority. In fact, now there is more reason for the international recognition of Artsakh.’ 

Russia and Turkey appear to disagree on peacekeepers 

Earlier today, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that ‘Turkey will have the same role as Russia’ in peacekeeping operations in Nagorno-Karabakh. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Turkey would not have any peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

He stated that ‘Turkish observers on Karabakh will be limited by the perimeter of the observation centre on the territory of Azerbaijan’ which would be located on the territory of Azerbaijani and ‘not close to Karabakh’. 

The text of the peace agreement that has been published by the Kremlin does not make any mention of Turkish peacekeepers being present in the disputed region. 

Internet unblocked in Azerbaijan

The internet in Azerbaijan, which has had severe restrictions on it since the beginning of hostilities, has been unblocked as of today. 

Armenian opposition plans new protest

Armenian opposition groups, which had staged a protest yesterday criticising the peace deal and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have announced a new protest today for 17:00. 

Yesterday, parliamentary opposition parties Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia attempted to hold an extraordinary session of parliament, the attempt failed as a quorum was not reached. 

Additionally, Armenia’s National Security Service has detained several leading figures of the protests including former director of the National Security Service and leader of the Homeland party Artur Vanetsyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan, press secretary of the former ruling Republican Party Eduard Sharmazanov, and former deputy speaker of parliament Ara Sahakyan.

Martial law is still in effect in Armenia and mass gatherings remain prohibited.