LIVE: Key morning headlines from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

● President Ilham Aliyev is heading to Kyrgyzstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation “SCO+” meeting of leaders and events on the sidelines of the summit.

● Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest with Poland and summoned Polish Ambassador Paweł Radomski over the TV programme “East Express”, broadcast on Polish Public broadcaster TVP. “The programme featured biased, subjective and unacceptable statements about the Azerbaijani state and leadership, while the host behaved provocatively,” the protest note said. The Foreign Ministry stressed that “disseminating information that distorts the true situation at a time when a peace process is underway between Azerbaijan and Armenia raises questions.” Neither the Polish Embassy in Azerbaijan nor Poland’s Foreign Ministry has commented on the incident so far.

The programme said Azerbaijan is becoming an increasingly influential power in the South Caucasus, but that, according to Human Rights Watch, domestic repression is intensifying. It highlighted the arrest and lengthy prison sentences of journalists from Abzas Media, Meydan TV and Toplum TV. “This campaign is increasingly spreading beyond Azerbaijan’s borders, with critics living abroad also receiving sentences in absentia,” the programme said. According to human rights groups, there are currently 328 political prisoners in Azerbaijani prisons, around 20 of them journalists. The authorities deny the existence of political prisoners and say those detained have committed criminal offences.

● Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov is on a working visit to Türkiye, where he presented diplomas to Azerbaijani graduates of the Turkish National Defence University. The Turkish president attended the ceremony.

●  “As a result of the former Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, 4,010 Azerbaijani citizens are registered as missing,” presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev wrote on X on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, observed on August 30. He said a state commission continues systematic efforts to locate them and stressed the importance of Armenia providing accurate information about the fate of missing Azerbaijanis, including the locations of their burial sites. To date, 32 mass graves have been discovered and the identities of 328 sets of remains established through DNA testing, Hajiyev said.

● A Dutch tourist who sustained serious injuries in a dog attack was rescued in a complex operation by the border service at an altitude of around 2,000 metres and in darkness and difficult mountainous terrain. The woman was reportedly hiking in the mountains of the Sheki district when she was attacked by a pack of dogs. She was airlifted to a hospital in Sheki with severe head and body injuries, where she underwent emergency surgery.

● Two Azerbaijani citizens were rescued from a passenger vessel that sank off the coast of Northern Cyprus. Eight people reportedly died, 240 were rescued and the search for 19 passengers is continuing.

● Amnesty International welcomed Georgia’s pardon of nine people convicted in protest-related cases, but said pardons cannot replace justice. The organisation called for an end to the misuse of legal mechanisms against demonstrators and for an independent investigation into possible violence by law enforcement officers.

It also noted that one of those pardoned, Denis Kulanin, was ultimately not released. The court kept him in a temporary detention centre for three months pending a decision on his possible deportation. According to his lawyer, Kulanin has agreed to leave Georgia for a third country.

● The Prosecutor’s Office arrested Ukrainian citizen V.K. on charges of leaving Abkhaz blogger Daur Buava in a critical condition. According to investigators, the two used methadone together at an apartment Buava rented in Tbilisi, after which she left him unconscious and did not call for help. A chemical examination confirmed the presence of methadone and alcohol in Buava’s body. The immediate cause of death has not yet been established. Two other people have been arrested in the same case on drug possession charges.

● The 37th “Saturday March” was held in Tbilisi as part of the pro-European protests that have continued for almost two years. The main slogan was: “Emigration is depriving the country of its future.” Organisers said more than one million citizens have left Georgia since 2012, when the ruling Georgian Dream party came to power. According to official statistics, more than 114,000 citizens emigrated from the country in 2025 alone. The ongoing pro-European protests began on November 28, 2024, after the authorities announced the suspension of Georgia’s EU integration process. Protesters are demanding a return to the path of European integration, early parliamentary elections and the release of detained protesters. Video podcast on the protests in Georgia here.

● The Education Ministry will allow 1,795 applicants to retake university entrance exams. They passed the minimum threshold in the national exams but failed to gain admission to their chosen programmes due to high competition. Registration for remaining vacant places at public and private higher and vocational education institutions will open in the first half of September. According to the ministry, the decision will apply only in 2026 and does not mean that the practice of re-registration is being permanently reinstated.

● Official school uniforms will be available only to first-graders at the start of the academic year. Parents can, however, order uniforms of the required design and standard elsewhere or from foreign websites. The Education Minister referred to an assessment by a Swiss evaluation company confirming the quality of uniforms produced under a government contract, but did not name the company or provide details of the assessment.

● A supposedly medieval pottery workshop and various artefacts were discovered during the reconstruction of Rustaveli Avenue near the Palace of Students and Youth. According to the chief archaeologist’s preliminary assessment, the find may date back to the 10th–12th centuries. Glazed pottery, clay vessels, glass fragments and jugs were discovered. The exact dating has not yet been established.

● Heavy rains caused problems in several parts of Georgia. In Tbilisi, the Mtkvari river embankment, the area around the Public Service Hall and parts of Sololaki were flooded. Streets were also flooded in Batumi and across the Adjara region. A swollen river in Lentekhi washed away a road bridge, while traffic has been restricted on the Sakdari–Lasdili and Ushguli–Lasdili sections. The Roads Department said a temporary bridge would be installed and tender procedures launched to build a new one.

● Two people were injured in an explosion at a petrol station in the village of Chitatskari, Zugdidi municipality. They were taken to hospital in critical condition. Several vehicles and buildings were damaged. The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

● A 31-year-old man died of an electric shock while fishing in the town of Sachkhere. According to reports, his fishing rod touched a power cable. He was taken to hospital, but doctors were unable to save him.

● The Interior Ministry detained an Azerbaijani citizen wanted by Interpol under a Red Notice at the Sarpi customs checkpoint while he was attempting to enter Türkiye. He was wanted by Azerbaijan on charges of hooliganism and intentional damage to property. Extradition proceedings have been launched.

● At the Judo Grand Slam in Lausanne, Ilia Sulamanidze won gold in the under-100kg category, while Guram Tushishvili won bronze in the heavyweight category.

● Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has travelled to Kyrgyzstan for a two-day visit. In Bishkek, he will attend the SCO+ meeting as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. During the visit, Pashinyan will also hold bilateral meetings with partners.

● Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “the decision on Armenia’s possible accession to the European Union should be made by Armenians themselves”, and that Russia is proposing that the Armenian authorities hold a referendum on whether people prefer to be part of the EU or the Eurasian Economic Union, led by Russia. Peskov said the issue could be discussed by Vladimir Putin and Nikol Pashinyan at their planned bilateral meeting in Bishkek.

● Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called “provocative” statements by Armenian Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan about Armenia’s readiness to accept a new wave of Russian citizens seeking to avoid being sent to the front. “In essence, he is encouraging Russian citizens to engage in unlawful activities and giving traditional Armenian hospitality a toxic political colouring,” Zakharova said.

● Iran has called for obstacles to trade and transit through the Norduz border crossing on the Armenian border to be removed. During a visit to the crossing, Hossein Forouzan, secretary of Iran’s High Council of Free and Special Economic Zones, said resolving the problems requires clear coordination among all government agencies operating at the border. Forouzan called on the relevant agencies to simplify trade and transit procedures, noting that reducing waiting times for freight vehicles is directly linked to the development of exports and imports.

● Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and heads of diplomatic missions and senior Foreign Ministry officials visited the Margara border crossing on the Armenian-Turkish border. During the visit, Eduard Hakobyan, chairman of the State Revenue Committee, spoke about the renovation and upgrading of the crossing, stressing that it is ready for operation.

● The same Foreign Ministry delegation visited an artificial intelligence factory in the city of Hrazdan, operating in cooperation with Firebird AI and NVIDIA. “Participants familiarised themselves with the opportunities created in the information technology sector, which is developing in Armenia at unprecedented speed,” the Foreign Ministry said. The role of the Armenia-US strategic partnership in unlocking the country’s innovation potential was emphasised.

● Jerusalem police detained four people suspected of spitting towards the grounds of the Armenian Patriarchate in the Old City. Three others were detained on suspicion of desecrating Muslim graves, The Times of Israel reports. According to local media, all those detained were questioned and later released with restrictions. They are accused of actions that could have posed a threat to public safety.

● Two people were injured after a fifth-floor balcony collapsed at a residential building in Yerevan. They were taken to hospital; one sustained a head injury.

Photo: “Heavy rains have turned Yerevan into Venice,” people wrote on social media, posting photos and videos.

Top stories in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia from 24-28 August, 2026