Latest news in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, summary. Live

● The first batch of guided Pinaka rockets has been shipped to Armenia from India, from the Nagpur-based plant of Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL). India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and senior SDAL officials personally attended the dispatch ceremony (pictured). According to Hindu Business Line, Armenia had earlier signed a contract for the supply of four Pinaka batteries, which also included the export of missiles. Deliveries of the launch systems began in July 2023 and were completed by November 2024. The outlet reports, citing sources, that SDAL will continue shipping the guided rockets to Armenia as they become ready. The Pinaka rockets are also expected to be inducted into service with the Indian Army in the near future, the publication adds.

● Iranians held a protest outside their country’s embassy in Yerevan. Demonstrators carried placards against the Iranian authorities; one read “President Trump, act now.” Seven people were detained for failing to comply with lawful police orders. Armenia’s Interior Ministry said the group intended to hold an unauthorized march, which was therefore banned.

Earlier, Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Sobhani (note: if needed, replace with the exact spelling used by your outlet) criticized protests outside the embassy, saying that “an impression is forming in Tehran that Armenia is becoming a center for forces hostile to Iran.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded that “since 2018, not a single rally has been banned in Armenia, and we could not have acted differently in any particular case.” Read more here

● The lawyer of Russian dollar billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, arrested on charges of publicly calling for the seizure of power in Armenia, criticized investigators for interrupting his hospital treatment. On January 16, Karapetyan was transferred from hospital back to a detention center, but a day later a court placed him under house arrest. According to his lawyer, Karapetyan has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and bilateral pneumonia and still requires inpatient treatment. “Before his arrest in summer 2025, he had no health problems,” the lawyer said.

● Vardan Ghukasyan, mayor of Gyumri, arrested on bribery charges, was returned from the Armenia Medical Center to a detention facility, where he had been since January 8. His lawyer said Ghukasyan recently suffered a heart attack, has type 2 diabetes, and that his condition has worsened. She called the transfer back to custody “a crime that could lead to a person’s death” and reported it to the prosecutor’s office.

● The organization SOAR (Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief) sent a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk regarding Ludwig Mkrtchyan, an ethnic Armenian detained in Azerbaijan since 2020. The letter was signed by his wife and legal representative Lusiana Minasyan, who previously represented Vigen Euljekchyan, transferred from Baku to Yerevan days ago along with three other ethnic Armenians. The letter stresses that Mkrtchyan was a combatant and, under the Geneva Conventions, should have been released after the November 2020 trilateral ceasefire agreement. His continued detention is described as a clear violation of international law.

Azerbaijani authorities have previously stated that Mkrtchyan, along with several other Armenian servicemen, was detained as a partisan after hostilities in Karabakh had ended. He has been charged with terrorism and illegal border crossing.

● International rating agency Fitch Ratings has revised Armenia’s outlook from Stable to Positive and affirmed its sovereign rating at BB-. In Fitch’s scale, “A” denotes excellent, “B” good, “C” poor, and “D” very poor, while “+” and “–” indicate intermediate grades. The more letters in a rating, the higher the assessment.

“The Outlook revision reflects Armenia’s higher international reserves and continued solid growth that will support fiscal consolidation consistent with debt stabilisation over the medium term. The US-sponsored peace framework with Azerbaijan significantly reduces near-term military escalation risks, but lingering uncertainty remains regarding its successful conclusion due to the proximity of parliamentary elections and potential constitutional reform referendum” – the Fitch Ratings assessment says.

● Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan commented: “This is not just a statistical change. It is professional confirmation that Armenia’s economic policy and institutional stability have gained a qualitatively new weight in international markets. It is a vote of confidence in the country’s economic resilience and political will.”

● Armenia and Uzbekistan discussed prospects for cooperation in the agricultural sector. The talks took place during a meeting of deputy ministers on the sidelines of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA). The discussions focused on efficient water use, increasing agricultural productivity, and addressing climate challenges.

● President Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame memorial, honoring the memory of those killed on January 20, 1990. Since then, the date has been observed in Azerbaijan as a national day of mourning.

On the night of January 19–20, 1990, on the orders of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet troops were deployed to Baku and several regions of Azerbaijan to suppress the independence movement. This took place amid a deep crisis in the USSR, the escalation of the Armenia–Azerbaijan Karabakh conflict, and growing public anger in Baku over the Soviet authorities’ stance. At the time, tens of thousands of people took to the streets daily. According to official figures, 150 civilians were killed that night, 744 were injured, and four went missing. In 1994, prosecutors in independent Azerbaijan found several senior Soviet officials, including Gorbachev, responsible for the tragedy, but no one has been held accountable in practice.

● Azerbaijan’s public debt is expected to remain below 30% of GDP in the medium term, significantly better than that of similarly rated countries, according to the international rating agency Moody’s. The agency cites continued dependence on the hydrocarbon sector as a weakness, while noting progress in economic diversification policies. Moody’s also positively assessed the peace-related agreements between Azerbaijan and Armenia reached in August 2025, stating that increased diplomatic activity and the easing of some border restrictions could reduce geopolitical risks that previously weighed on the rating. Improved relations with Armenia and a lower risk of escalation are seen as credit-positive factors.

● Five more Azerbaijani citizens — a woman and her four children — have been repatriated from Syria to Azerbaijan. They have been placed in a shelter run by the social services agency and provided with guidance on social integration, access to education, and employment opportunities, the ombudsman’s office reported.

● Tourist flows from Azerbaijan to Georgia increased by more than 33% in 2025, making Azerbaijan the fifth-largest source of tourists to Georgia. The top four were Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Israel.

● Georgia’s State Security Service issued a statement in response to claims by Vepkhia Kasradze, who was detained during protest actions, that an SSS officer had allegedly planned to kidnap his daughter last year. The SSS said it had contacted the Prosecutor’s Office to question the author of the statement as soon as possible and determine what actually took place. “On the one hand, even if one were to theoretically assume the accuracy of the facts described in the statement, they must be thoroughly investigated. On the other hand, no one should be allowed to make such sweeping accusations against their country’s security service of committing a grave crime,” the statement said.

● Georgia’s Interior Ministry has officially authorized opposition protests, marches, and rallies in central Tbilisi through January 29.

● The government plans to fully complete road construction under the Middle Corridor project in 2026, according to the 2026 state budget. This includes finishing the Rustavi–Red Bridge and Algeti–Sadakhlo sections leading to the borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as building the Batumi–Sarpi road to the Turkish border.

The Middle Corridor follows the route China–Kazakhstan–Caspian Sea–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkey–Europe. Georgia joined the project in 2022, at Turkey’s initiative, as part of the transit route.

● Georgia’s external debt rose by 8% in 2025 to $9.29 billion, the Finance Ministry reported. About 74.3% of the debt consists of borrowing from international financial institutions. As of the end of 2025, Georgia’s main creditor countries were France ($872.9 million), Germany ($580.2 million), and Japan ($112.5 million).

● The Georgian Orthodox Church is celebrating Epiphany today. On this day, a liturgy dedicated to the holiday is held in churches. The ritual of blessing water also takes place in churches. After the service, worshippers can take the blessed water home.

● Georgian figure skater Nika Egadze won the gold medal at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England.

● Top five countries by number of tourists visiting Georgia in 2025:

Russia – 1.61 million, up 13.4%

Turkey – 1.26 million, down 6%

Armenia – 962,100, up 1.5%

Israel – 411,100, up 32.2%

Azerbaijan – 292,000, up 33%

In the video: A meeting between the artists of the Georgian National Ballet and Robert De Niro after the ensemble’s concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. The ballet’s chief choreographer, Iliko Sukhishvili, says that De Niro is his second favorite actor. His first favorite is his grandfather, Iliko Sukhishvili, the founder of the legendary ensemble. In response, Robert De Niro smiles and recalls visiting Georgia in the 1980s: back then, he ran away from the Moscow Film Festival to Tbilisi to see the actress Ia Parulava.

Top stories in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia from 12-16 January, 2026