ArmInfo. During the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, the second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan was in constant contact with the former leaders of Artsakh Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan. Robert Kocharyan himself stated this at a press conference on February 17.
According to him, this contact was almost daily, but there were cases when conversations took place several times a day. As for the former President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan, as Robert Kocharyan noted, the issue of his resignation began to be discussed three months before the fall of Artsakh.
"What happened in the last week was the third attempt to force Harutyunyan to resign. Each time during the discussions, the latter constantly stated that from now on he had no influence, and in this context the most correct decision was to resign, but each time Bako Sahakyan convinced Arayik Harutyunyan to refuse this step," the second president of the Republic of Armenia said, adding that the last time Harutyunyan, having gathered everyone, declared that he would take this step anyway. Harutyunyan himself tried to prove to people that his decision was the most correct. As Kocharyan emphasized, he discussed this possibility with at least three officials, without naming the names of these three persons.
The Armenian authorities and circles close to them very often draw attention to the fact of Arayik Harutyunyan's resignation, considering this to be pressure from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun party, after which Nagorno-Karabakh fell.
On January 17, under the chairmanship of Judge Zeynal Agayev, the Baku Military Court began considering the "indictment" against the former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Among the accused are three former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh: Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan. Also appearing before the court will be former Foreign Minister David Babayan, Parliament Speaker David Ishkhanyan, former Defense Army Commander General Levon Mnatsakanyan, General David Manukyan and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan.