Artsakh President Araik Harutyunyan will resign on September 1. He announced it himself on his Facebook page, mentioning that it is his own decision and that he was not pressured to resign. He noted that he made this final decision two days ago, taking into account his contacts with all internal and external actors and the general public in recent weeks.
Harutyunyan informed that State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan was relieved of his post and Security Council Secretary Samvel Shahramanyan was appointed State Minister, who was given wide powers.
“As a result of the election of the President of the Republic of Artsakh by the people of Artsakh in 2020. I assumed the powers of the President on May 21. From the very next day, I started the task of strengthening Artsakh’s defense capability, ensuring the inviolability of Artsakh’s borders. Unfortunately, just four months later, the 44-day war was unleashed by Azerbaijan, which ended in our defeat. Of course, one can put all the blame for the defeat on the four-month-old president of Artsakh, and I do not refuse responsibility at all, but believe me, each of us had his share of responsibility, each according to his status and abilities. In any case, I have stated several times, now I publicly again apologize to the Armenian people for my share of guilt, but I assure again that in 2020 During the 44-day war, I took all the steps within my power and actual authority, maybe even more.” Harutyunyan wrote in his post.
It is notable to mention, that due to the recent changes in the Artsakh constitution, the responsibility of election of a new president in case of the resignation of the former, is delegated to the national assembly parties and its President. Currently, the Speaker of the Artsakh national assembly is Davit Ishkhanyan of Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
