Hayk Hovhannisyan, #CivilNetCheck
Claims have been circulating across Armenian media outlets and social media platforms since January 21, 2025, alleging that the UK government has issued new warnings about visiting settlements along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and traveling on the Noyemberyan-Ijevan road, which runs along Armenia’s strategically sensitive northeastern border with Azerbaijan.
On January 21, a Telegram channel reported that the British government website “revealed the direction of Azerbaijan’s possible strike” on January 17 by updating “potential conflict points” in Armenian territory.
Opposition MPs from the “Armenia” Alliance in the National Assembly, including Arthur Khachatryan, and activist Nairi Hokhikyan shared these claims on January 22, generating significant public attention.
The story was picked up by numerous Armenian news organizations including Yerevan.today, Armlur.am, 24news.am, Iravunk.com, Aysor.am, Aravot.am, Abcmedia.am, and several other outlets, who presented it without crucial context.
The Warning Isn’t New, Posts Are Misleading
#CivilNetCheck’s investigation has revealed that the British government’s security and border visit warnings are not new and haven’t significantly changed in recent years, despite the volatile situation along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border where periodic military escalations continue to occur.
The latest update to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) website on travel advice for Armenia was made on January 17, 2025. Compared to the previous version from January 16, the main provisions remained unchanged, except for the terrorism section in “Safety and Security,” which contains no significant changes.
For instance, the previous version stated “Terrorist attacks in Armenia cannot be ruled out” while the new version states “Although there’s no recent history of terrorism in Armenia, attacks cannot be ruled out.”
Regarding warnings about visiting Armenia’s eastern border areas along Azerbaijan and traveling on the Ijevan-Noyemberyan M16/H26 road, these have existed since at least 2013. The recommendation to maintain a 5 km distance from border areas has been present since 2018. This warning is significant as several Armenian villages lie within this 5 km zone.
Britain publishes these warnings exclusively for the safety of its citizens traveling abroad.
The website’s warnings from November 10, 2020, specifically emphasized the situation created by the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh and resulting security risks, noting possible continuation of military operations and potential targeting of military objects in Armenia’s territory.
The current version maintains two main warnings: avoid the 5 km zone near the eastern border and the Ijevan-Noyemberyan road, which serves as a crucial transportation route in Armenia’s northeastern region.
The travel advice map for Armenia has been published on the website since at least August 2017. The only difference in the current version is the new border section with Azerbaijan formed after the 2020 war.
Armenian-Azerbaijani border in 2021, 2022, and in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023. These travel advisories are closely monitored in Armenia as potential indicators of regional security developments, which explains the heightened media attention to what was essentially a routine update.
Thus, claims circulating on social media about the update of British government warnings and their connection to possible Azerbaijani actions are misleading.
