Askeran (Armenian: Ասկերան or Mayraberd, Մայրաբերդ; Azerbaijani: Əsgəran) is a town in the Khojaly District of Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

[3] It is located on the left bank of the Karkar River (Qarqarçay), approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi) northeast of the regional capital, Stepanakert.

[5] Askeran originally belonged to the historic territory of Dizak before becoming part of the Armenian Melikdom of Varanda in the first half of the 16th-century.

The Askeran fortress protected the eastern frontier of Varanda from the semi-autonomous Karabakh Khanate,[6][7] which was under the suzerainty of Iran.

During the Soviet period, the city was the administrative center of the Askeran District, which was a part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in the Azerbaijan SSR.

The city is home to factories producing wine, brandy and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as architectural enterprises, secondary and musical schools, a house of culture, a municipal building, a kindergarten, and a hospital.