The de facto president and other officials are camped out in tents in Stepanakert's central square demanding that Armenia and Russia take action to end Azerbaijan's blockade.
Azerbaijan has long resented France's alleged pro-Armenian stances. Now it is couching criticism of these stances in a broader critique of Paris' "neocolonialism."
The Armenian Church is boldly criticizing the country's secular leaders, particularly over their unpopular conciliatory moves in talks with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan shut down all traffic between Nagorno-Karabakh and the outside world on June 15, exacerbating shortages and preventing patients from seeking urgent medical care.
Azerbaijan, which had been pressing hard for a resolution, has eased off following the Turkish elections and their establishment of a border post in Karabakh.
Roughly a month after Azerbaijan installed a border post on the Lachin corridor, a small but growing number of Karabakh Armenians are using the route. But there is still strong social pressure against doing so.
Aliyev's threatening rhetoric makes clear his government will ignore exhortations to sit down for talks with representatives of the entity he considers anathema to Azerbaijan.
The region's already meager electricity generation capacity is in jeopardy, and an "environmental disaster" could be at hand, the local de facto authorities say.
Tbilisi seems to be facilitating Armenia-Russia maritime links, but has no intention, for now, of reviving the railway connection through breakaway Abkhazia.
Armenia has long been on a trajectory of recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but the prime minister's explicit statement still triggered shock and outrage.
Yerevan and Baku have fundamental disagreements about how the rights and security of Karabakh’s Armenian population should be guaranteed. Observers are pessimistic that they can be bridged.
Baku has presented the border crossing as a demonstration of how Karabakh Armenians can live peacefully under Azerbaijani rule. But no one is using it.
Analysts say that, while an Erdogan defeat would be a preferable outcome for Armenia, a change of power in Turkey would not necessarily be a game changer.