Armenia borders Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan and Iran to the south, and Turkey to the west. The border crossings with Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed.
There is a dispute with Turkey over the Armenian genocide during the First World War. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been an ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that lies on Azerbaijani territory but was inhabited by a majority of Armenians. In September 2023, Azerbaijan gained military control over the entire region, causing a large part of the population to flee.
Since then, there has been great fear of escalation and further territorial claims by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is already demanding a corridor to its exclave of Nakhichevan, which is mainly surrounded by Iran and Armenia. The so-called "Sangesur Corridor" would run right through Armenia's Syunik region and could also be enforced militarily by Azerbaijan if a peaceful solution fails. Due to the lack of international sanctions following the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, many fear that Azerbaijan's President Aliyev could be emboldened to take further action.
For the majority of people in the Syunik region, however, it is clear that they do not want to leave their homes even in the case of war. Nevertheless, the threat is already palpable in the border towns. Trenches can be seen everywhere and some civilians have built bunkers.
