1. Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan is an Armenian politician who served as the fourth president of the Republic of Artsakh from May 2020 to September 2023.
24 Facts About Arayik Harutyunyan
1. 2.
Arayik Harutyunyan resigned on 1 September 2023 in the midst of the Azerbaijani blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.
3.
Arayik Harutyunyan was born in 1973 in Stepanakert, then capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, part of the Azerbaijani SSR in the Soviet Union.
4.
Arayik Harutyunyan became a student at the Yerevan State Institute of Economy in 1990.
5.
Arayik Harutyunyan started his career at the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Artsakh in 1994, serving as assistant to the minister.
6.
In 2005, Arayik Harutyunyan co-founded the Free Motherland party, which took part in the 2005 parliamentary election, winning 10 out of 33 seats in the National Assembly of Artsakh.
7.
Arayik Harutyunyan served as the Chairman of the Free Motherland party and its parliamentary grouping in the National Assembly.
8.
Arayik Harutyunyan headed the Commission on Financial, Budget and Economy Management in the National Assembly.
9.
Arayik Harutyunyan remained in the Sahakyan government and was appointed to the newly created office of state minister.
10.
Arayik Harutyunyan resigned from the position in June 2018 after four days of protests in Stepanakert sparked by the beating of two civilians by Artsakh's security forces.
11.
Arayik Harutyunyan participated in and won the 2020 Artsakhian general election, thereby becoming the fourth President of Artsakh.
12.
On 9 November, Arayik Harutyunyan gave his consent for Nikol Pashinyan to sign the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.
13.
Arayik Harutyunyan defended the decision to accept the ceasefire agreement, stating that the Armenian side "would have lost all of Artsakh" if the war had not been stopped.
14.
On 1 December 2020, Arayik Harutyunyan announced that a national unity government would be formed and a number of cabinet officials would be replaced, pending snap elections.
15.
Arayik Harutyunyan announced his intention to leave politics permanently and that he would not run in the coming elections.
16.
In February 2021, Arayik Harutyunyan's spokesperson confirmed that Arayik Harutyunyan, Russian general Rustam Muradov and an Azerbaijani official had met to discuss "humanitarian issues".
17.
On 4 November 2022, Arayik Harutyunyan appointed Ruben Vardanyan, a Russian Armenian billionaire who had recently moved to Artsakh, to the position of state minister with "broad powers".
18.
Arayik Harutyunyan dismissed Vardanyan from the position on 23 February 2023.
19.
Arayik Harutyunyan did not give details about the reasons for the dismissal, but claimed that it was in Artsakh's best interests and denied that it was in response to Azerbaijan's demands for Vardanyan's departure.
20.
On 13 February 2023, Arayik Harutyunyan proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow Artsakh's parliament to elect an interim president in case of the president's resignation, raising new expectations of his impending resignation.
21.
Arayik Harutyunyan stated that he had contacted UN agencies and sent letters to the presidents of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group describing the situation and demanding action to address the crisis.
22.
Arayik Harutyunyan called on Russia to carry out its obligations according to the 2020 ceasefire agreement and asked the Armenian government not to recognize Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan.
23.
On 29 August 2023, Arayik Harutyunyan stated that he was considering resigning and going to serve in Artsakh's militia.
24.
Arayik Harutyunyan stated that the defeat in the 2020 war and subsequent events had "significantly reduced the trust [among the inhabitants of Artsakh] in the authorities, especially the President," which was limiting the effectiveness of the government.