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The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s official mission in Yerevan was part of a government presence that once employed 2,000 officials and administrators. Now, a plaque emblazoned with the vanished state’s emblem is overgrown with ivy. Next to it still hangs a large poster with the faces of Karabakh hostages captured by Azerbaijani forces in 2023. The office’s interior shows signs of a recent government raid, including a smashed safe—further evidence of the increasingly hostile relationship between the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and supporters of the Karabakh cause.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, known to Armenians as Artsakh, was a self-declared state that existed from 1991 to 2023 but was never internationally recognized. Nestled in the mountains between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a brutal conflict between the two South Caucasus nations for decades. In 2023, Azerbaijan launched a lightning military operation, seizing control of the region and forcing thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s official mission in Yerevan was part of a government presence that once employed 2,000 officials and administrators. Now, a plaque emblazoned with the vanished state’s emblem is overgrown with ivy. Next to it still hangs a large poster with the faces of Karabakh hostages captured by Azerbaijani forces in 2023. The office’s interior shows signs of a recent government raid, including a smashed safe—further evidence of the increasingly hostile relationship between the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and supporters of the Karabakh cause.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, known to Armenians as Artsakh, was a self-declared state that existed from 1991 to 2023 but was never internationally recognized. Nestled in the mountains between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a brutal conflict between the two South Caucasus nations for decades. In 2023, Azerbaijan launched a lightning military operation, seizing control of the region and forcing thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.

The loss of Karabakh is still a painful and open wound for many in Armenia. But the Pashinyan government has taken steps to accept defeat and move toward a peace agreement with Baku. Supporters insist that this is a matter of pragmatism and that after 30 years of war with Baku over this land, and with tens of thousands of Armenian lives lost, it is time to move toward a more stable future. For others, though, including critics of the prime minster and many refugees, Yerevan’s abandonment of Nagorno-Karabakh—the cornerstone of the country’s national struggle for decades—is an act of treason.

In this fraught context, Karabakh refugees have become the victims of online hate speech and government harassment. Much of the hostility has played out online, stoked by pro-government activists, bloggers, and Armenian media outlets, but even senior government........

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