Last updated: June 10, 2026
Armenia’s land borders span approximately 1,570 kilometers and connect it to four neighboring countries: Azerbaijan (910 km to the east and north), Turkey (311 km to the west), Iran (910 km to the south and southeast), and Georgia (164 km to the north). The borders define Armenia’s access to regional markets, energy supplies, and transit options. Turkey has maintained a unilateral blockade of Armenia since 1993, closing its land border and airspace. Following the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 2020, border demarcation and delimitation with Azerbaijan have remained contested, with disputes over enclaves, territorial control, and transit corridor status creating persistent tensions.
Armenia’s borders determine its survival as a sovereign state. The loss of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) in a 24-hour offensive on September 19–20, 2023, ethnically cleansed the enclave of its more than 150,000 Armenian inhabitants and reduced Armenian territorial control to the Republic proper. The primary obstacle to the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process is Azerbaijan’s precondition that Armenia amend its constitution to remove references to Artsakh and recognize Azerbaijani territorial claims. Border demarcation and delimitation, while technically complex and lengthy, is proceeding but Armenian opposition parties criticize the Pashinyan government for accepting Azerbaijan’s sequencing priorities in determining which areas are demarcated first. Beyond the constitutional demands and demarcation process, Azerbaijan demands implementation of transit arrangements that would connect mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan across Armenian Syunik province. Armenia fears that such arrangements, marketed as TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity) by Washington, would cement Azerbaijani and Turkish control over Armenian territory and sever Armenia’s ability to maintain open transit with Iran through Syunik , a critical lifeline for trade and energy independent of hostile neighbors.
The Zangezur Corridor label itself reflects geopolitical competition over naming rights and intent. The United States frames the corridor as TRIPP, a transit project designed to connect Asia to Europe while bypassing Russia and Iran and serving American strategic interests in accessing critical minerals and limiting Chinese and Russian influence. Azerbaijan and Turkey call it the “Zangezur Corridor,” terminology rooted in pan-Turanic ambitions to integrate the region under Turkish-Azerbaijani leadership. This is not a semantic difference. Implementation would allow Turkey to link directly with Azerbaijan and Central Asia, completing a corridor that many Armenian analysts see as a threat to Armenian sovereignty rather than a neutral infrastructure project. The Iran War that erupted in early 2026 has frozen TRIPP’s implementation by making the corridor’s passage through Syunik strategically volatile, but it has not resolved the underlying question of whether Armenia will eventually be forced to accept transit arrangements that benefit Turkey and Azerbaijan more than Armenia itself.
Armenia’s border situation defines its options for trade, energy, and geopolitical alignment. With Turkey’s border closed since 1993, Armenia cannot access Europe overland and remains dependent on air and sea routes through Georgia and Iran. Armenia’s southern border with Iran remains open and functional, and the northern border with Georgia is also open. These two neighbors provide Armenia’s only reliable transit routes for goods and energy independent of hostile powers. Turkey’s continued closure of its border means that any corridor arrangement through Syunik that severs Armenia’s direct access to Iran would eliminate Armenia’s most critical independent trade pathway. In this context, border demarcation with Azerbaijan becomes more than a technical boundary matter: it determines whether Armenia can survive as a sovereign state or whether it will be economically strangled by hostile neighbors and forced into submission. Fyodor Lukyanov and Varuzhan Geghamyan have analyzed how the corridor question and border disputes shape Armenia’s choices between competing blocs, and how Armenia’s weakness in border negotiations reflects its broader loss of leverage in a region where Russia no longer guarantees its security and the West offers support without binding commitments.
Below are all Groong episodes tagged with Borders.
Episode 251 | Recorded: May 1, 2023
Episode 249 | Recorded: April 25, 2023
Episode 249 | Recorded: April 25, 2023
Episode 248 | Recorded: April 16, 2023
Episode 248 | Recorded: April 16, 2023
Episode 247 | Recorded: April 14, 2023
Episode 247 | Recorded: April 14, 2023
Artsakh Blockade Flash Update with Gev Iskajyan - Ep 246, Apr 12, 2023
Armenian News Network Groong - April 12, 2023
Episode 246 | Recorded: April 12, 2023
Read MoreArtsakh Blockade Flash Update with Gev Iskajyan - Ep 246, Apr 12, 2023
Armenian News Network Groong - April 12, 2023
Episode 246 | Recorded: April 12, 2023
Read MoreEpisode 242 | Recorded: April 3, 2023
Episode 242 | Recorded: April 3, 2023
Episode 241 | Recorded: March 26, 2023
Episode 241 | Recorded: March 26, 2023
Episode 240 | Recorded: March 20, 2023
Episode 240 | Recorded: March 20, 2023
Episode 237 | Recorded: March 12, 2023
Episode 237 | Recorded: March 12, 2023
Episode 234 | Recorded: March 5, 2023
Episode 234 | Recorded: March 5, 2023
Episode 232 | Recorded: February 28, 2023
Episode 232 | Recorded: February 28, 2023
Today weâre going to talk with Anna Abrahamian about two or three topics.
Guest:
Today weâre going to talk with Anna Abrahamian about two or three topics.
Guest:
Episode 226 | Recorded: February 19, 2023
Episode 226 | Recorded: February 19, 2023
Episode 224 | Recorded: February 12, 2023
Episode 224 | Recorded: February 12, 2023
Episode 219 | Recorded: January 29, 2023
Episode 219 | Recorded: January 29, 2023
Episode 206 | Recorded: January 15, 2023
Episode 206 | Recorded: January 15, 2023
“The Armenian government, under its legislation, is obliged to protect the independence of Artsakh” - Aram Orbelyan
As of earlier this week, Artsakh has introduced coupons to ration food. Other
Read More“The Armenian government, under its legislation, is obliged to protect the independence of Artsakh” - Aram Orbelyan
As of earlier this week, Artsakh has introduced coupons to ration food. Other
Read MoreâThis is a repeat of Srebrenica. To gradually strangle and force the people to leave.â -Arthur Khachikyan
More than 120,000 people remain trapped in the Republic of Artsakh (or Nagorno-Karabakh)
Read MoreâThis is a repeat of Srebrenica. To gradually strangle and force the people to leave.â -Arthur Khachikyan
More than 120,000 people remain trapped in the Republic of Artsakh (or Nagorno-Karabakh)
Read MoreEpisode 194 | Recorded: December 26, 2022
Episode 194 | Recorded: December 26, 2022
“The Armenian authorities are trying to bury the issue of status of Artsakh” -Arthur Khachatryan
More than 120,000 people remain trapped in the Republic of Artsakh (or Nagorno-Karabakh) due to Azerbaijanâs blockade of the Lachin corridor, as this crisis enters its 15th day.
Read More“The Armenian authorities are trying to bury the issue of status of Artsakh” -Arthur Khachatryan
More than 120,000 people remain trapped in the Republic of Artsakh (or Nagorno-Karabakh) due to Azerbaijanâs blockade of the Lachin corridor, as this crisis enters its 15th day.
Read More“Turkish threats are going to disappear only when there is no Armenia” - Varuzhan Geghamyan
“Turkish threats are going to disappear only when there is no Armenia” - Varuzhan Geghamyan
âPashinyan, why don’t you go and shake Artak Beglaryanâs hand, like you did in Shushi in 2019â - Tevan Poghosyan
This is Day 9 of the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. This interview is a continuation of the collaboration between Groong and 168 Hours aiming to bring you more
Read MoreâPashinyan, why don’t you go and shake Artak Beglaryanâs hand, like you did in Shushi in 2019â - Tevan Poghosyan
This is Day 9 of the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. This interview is a continuation of the collaboration between Groong and 168 Hours aiming to bring you more
Read More“The full state-led attack against Artsakh and Armenia, which no-one in Europe condemned, was a case where the military solution worked. From 2020 onwards, many actors in the world see that you can attack and get away with it.”
This is Day 8 of the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. 120 thousand people are effectively being held hostage by the regime in Baku.
Groong and 168 Hours are continuing our
Read More“The full state-led attack against Artsakh and Armenia, which no-one in Europe condemned, was a case where the military solution worked. From 2020 onwards, many actors in the world see that you can attack and get away with it.”
This is Day 8 of the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. 120 thousand people are effectively being held hostage by the regime in Baku.
Groong and 168 Hours are continuing our
Read MoreWeâre going on to Day 6 of the Artsakh Blockade by Azerbaijan, and Groong and 168 Hours are teaming up to bring you more English-language coverage on the developments of this very serious issue, a major humanitarian crisis in Artsakh in progress.
“We somehow have this complex. We think weâre the sleeping beauty and the west is going to come and save us. And every time that it
Read MoreWeâre going on to Day 6 of the Artsakh Blockade by Azerbaijan, and Groong and 168 Hours are teaming up to bring you more English-language coverage on the developments of this very serious issue, a major humanitarian crisis in Artsakh in progress.
“We somehow have this complex. We think weâre the sleeping beauty and the west is going to come and save us. And every time that it
Read MoreEpisode 182 | Recorded: December 13, 2022
Episode 182 | Recorded: December 13, 2022
Episode 181 | Recorded: December 6, 2022
Episode 181 | Recorded: December 6, 2022
Episode 180 | Recorded: December 5, 2022
Episode 180 | Recorded: December 5, 2022
Episode 178 | Recorded: November 14, 2022
Episode 178 | Recorded: November 14, 2022
Episode 177 | Recorded: November 14, 2022
Episode 177 | Recorded: November 14, 2022
Episode 175 | Recorded: November 8, 2022
Episode 175 | Recorded: November 8, 2022
Episode 174 | Recorded: November 3, 2022