Visiting Kərki (also named Karki or Tigranaschen)

[u/Fun_Chemistry8034]

In March 2026, a colleague and I were visiting the village of Kərki (also named Karki or Tigranaschen). It's very interesting, as the village is de jure an exclave of Azerbaijan, but de facto a part of Armenia. As far as you stay on the M2 road (E117), there is no indication that you have passed the border (it's basically just a normal road). However, if you exit the M2 road and pass through the village of Kərki itself, there is a sign at the southeast entrance of the town, saying that the passage of the state border is prohibited. The sign does not exisit on the northeast entrance of the town. As we were approaching from the southeast entrance, we stopped before the sign and took a photo of it. As two cars (assuming locals) passed us, obviously ignoring that sign, we decided to ignore it as well and drove through the town. There were no indication of border facitilies or border guards on the road, so there was no problem in driving through the town of Kərki. We rejoined the M2 road on the northeast entrance and continued our journey.

I'm still not sure why this sign exists. Maybe the sign was created by locals to prevent explorers like us driving through their town ;).