27 Facts About Samvel Babayan

Samvel Andraniki Babayan is an Armenian military officer and politician.

Samvel Babayan was one of the founders and main commanders of the Artsakh Defence Army during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and became a war hero among Armenians for the military victories achieved under his command.

Samvel Babayan served as Secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh from May 2020 until November 2020, when he resigned after Armenia's defeat in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Samvel Babayan was born on 5 March 1965 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan SSR.

In 1988, Samvel Babayan enlisted in a paramilitary unit and rose to command his own unit.

Samvel Babayan coordinated Armenian operations in Karabakh, participated in the planning of the capture of Shusha and was the commander of the Lachin front.

Samvel Babayan was one of the signatories of the 1994 ceasefire which ended the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Samvel Babayan established himself as the most powerful man in Nagorno-Karabakh in the aftermath of the war.

Samvel Babayan used his position to acquire land, businesses and tax privileges.

At a joint session of the security councils of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in January 1998, at the urging of Vazgen Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan, Samvel Babayan spoke strongly against President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan's plan to accept the OSCE Minsk Group's proposals to return some of the territory captured from Azerbaijan during the war and deploy international peacekeepers there; Ter-Petrosyan was forced to resign a month later.

Samvel Babayan then began to intervene in Armenian politics, funding the "Law and Unity" bloc in the 1999 Armenian parliamentary election, where the bloc came in third.

In December 1999, Samvel Babayan was forced to relinquish his position as the commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army.

On 22 March 2000, Samvel Babayan was arrested on charges of launching an assassination attempt on Arkadi Ghukasyan, which left the president seriously wounded but alive.

Samvel Babayan was tried for organizing the attempt on Ghukasyan's life along with 15 of his associates.

The trial began on 18 September 2000 and ended on 26 February 2001, when Samvel Babayan was sentenced to 14 years of prison, stripped of several decorations and ranks, and disenfranchised.

Samvel Babayan was said to suffer from hepatitis and other ailments which could not be treated in prison.

On 18 September 2004, Samvel Babayan was released from maximum-security prison in Shusha due to health concerns, with the terms of release including a probationary period and continued disenfranchisement.

In November 2005, Samvel Babayan founded the Dashink political party with his supporters.

Samvel Babayan returned to Armenia in May 2016 after a de facto exile in Moscow, shortly after major clashes on the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.

In March 2017, Samvel Babayan was arrested by the Armenian National Security Service on charges of smuggling surface-to-air missiles and counterfeit Euros.

On 28 November 2017, Samvel Babayan was convicted to six years in prison.

Samvel Babayan was released from detention following the 2018 Armenian revolution.

Samvel Babayan founded the United Homeland Party in Artsakh in September 2019.

Samvel Babayan launched a presidential campaign for the 2020 Artsakhian general election, but was disqualified from participation.

Samvel Babayan ran in the Armenian parliamentary election in June 2021 as the prime ministerial candidate for the Liberal Party, which he founded in March 2021.

Samvel Babayan has been awarded with the army ranks of lieutenant colonel, colonel, major general and lieutenant general.

Samvel Babayan has been awarded with the Golden Eagle medal of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and has been declared a Hero of Artsakh.