Moche coup à Moscou : Bataille d’abricots

by Liana Aghajanian

This week saw the heaviest fighting along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in years, with at least 16 killed on both sides, the destruction of structures along border villages, and the downing of drones.

What followed included efforts to de-escalate tensions, statements from various diplomats like U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said the U.S. was “deeply concerned,” protests in Baku calling for war, cyber attacks, and various threats to continue the fighting.

But in Russia – where the largest diasporas of both Armenians and Azerbaijanis live, another kind of proxy conflict was boiling over.

The weapon of choice? Apricots.

The fruit fight began when Azerbaijanis bought pallets of perfectly luscious apricots – Armenia’s largest export and treasured national symbol – and filmed themselves destroying the crops by stomping on them – videos of which were shared across social media networks including TikTok and Twitter.

Next, Armenian apricot exporters found themselves in an unexpected jam.

An estimated 50 drivers from Armenia, who had arrived in Moscow carrying tons of ripe apricots, were refused entry by market managers to sell their product at Food City, a large wholesale market in Moscow. One third of the fresh food products found in the capital are sold through the outlet everyday, according to Eurofresh Distribution magazine.

It was unclear where the explicit order to block the trucks and specifically target and prohibit Armenian sellers from entering came from or why (local…