Askeran (Azerbaijani Əsgəran, Armenian Ասկերան) is a city in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is located 14 km northeast of Stepanakert on the road to Aghdam on the left bank of the Karkarchay (Karkar) River. According to the administrative-territorial division of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which actually controls the city, it is the administrative center of the Askeran region of the NKR; according to the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it is located in the Khojaly region of Azerbaijan.
In the past – a village in the Shusha district. From 1978 to 1991 it was the administrative center of the Askeran region of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijan SSR.

Population
In 1970 the population was 700, the majority being Armenians. According to the All-Union Census of the USSR in 1989, 2024 people lived in Askeran. According to the 2005 census, 1,967 people live in the city. After the annexation of the former settlement of Aghdam to the city as the Akna quarter in November 2010, the population increased by about 360 people due to this.

Askeran fortress
Askeran fortress (Azerbaijani Əsgəran qalası, Armenian Ասկերանի բերդ), also Mayraberd (Armenian Մայրաբերդ) is a fortress near the southern outskirts of the city of Askeran in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the administrative-territorial division of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which actually controls the fortress, it is located in the Askeran region of the NKR, according to the administrative-territorial division of Azerbaijan – in the Khojaly region of Azerbaijan.

The fortress is located at the southern outskirts of Askeran on both banks of the Karkar River on the road to Aghdam in a wooded area. It is located 16-17 km northeast of Stepanakert. May also be referred to as Askaran, Askatran, Asketran.
The fortress walls are 2 m thick and 9 m high. On the walls there are round towers built of small pebbles and crushed limestone with lime mortar. The towers served as observation posts. There were narrow corridors on the walls that served to communicate between the towers. The double walls and landscape made the fortress impregnable: it is located among the mountains in a gorge.
To this day, the protective walls, entrance and towers stretching along the mountain slope are quite well preserved.
In the Middle Ages on in this place there was a fortress and an Armenian village called Mayraberd (arm. Մայրաբերդ).
In the 18th century, on the initiative of Panah Khan, a powerful fortress, fortified with double walls, was built here to protect the approaches to Shusha.
In June 1805, during the Russo-Persian War, more than 40,000 Persian army advancing on Shusha passed through the fortress. At the initiative of General Tsitsianov, Armenian volunteer detachments were formed in Karabakh. One of these detachments, led by melik Vani and Hakob Yuzbashi Atabekyan, took part in the battle near the walls of the fortress. The detachment of Colonel Karyagin, consisting of 400 fighters, en route to Shusha, was surrounded on a hill in the village of Khramort. Volunteers led the Russian detachment out of the encirclement to the north to the villages of Kusapat and Mokhratah. A memorial plaque erected by the residents of Khramort immortalized the memory of the Russian and Armenian soldiers who fell during the defense of Shusha and Askeran in June-July 1805.
In 1918-1920, there was a garrison defending the Karkar valley under the command of Colonel Badalkokhyan. The fortress was destroyed by the Musavatists during the storming of the city in 1920.
Now the fortress is in good condition thanks to the restoration carried out in 2002.