I Asked Bako Sahakyan to Convey My Request to Araik Harutyunyan, but Harutyunyan Refused: Serge Sargsyan

No, I did not meet with Araik Harutyunyan in Artsakh. This was stated by former Armenian President Serge Sargsyan during an interview.

"I went to Artsakh and, in the presence of 5-6 people, asked Bako Sahakyan to convey my big request to Harutyunyan to accept me for a few minutes. On the first day, Sahakyan said that the president was in the field, and by the end of the second day, he said that he could not accept me for known reasons. I had two purposes: to explain to Harutyunyan that the war is heading towards defeat, and all efforts should be made to stop the war. Besides that, I wanted to know how I could help. I was ready to do any work. However, he did not accept, and any initiative of my own would be attributed to conspiracy, so I saw no point in remaining in Stepanakert and returned to Yerevan," he said.

Sargsyan mentioned that no combat generals were allowed to do anything, but by the end of the war, unofficial assistance was requested: "There were many different ways to prevent such an outcome in this war. What was preventing us from inviting Khachaturyan, Seyran Ohanyan as advisors to Onik Gasparyan? They are experienced people, and Gasparyan was the Chief of Staff for several months. Being the Chief of Staff is not a simple matter, especially during military operations. What was preventing us from calling Levon Mnatsakanyan, Samvel Karapetyan as advisors to the inexperienced Jalal Harutyunyan? Even if you didn't take their advice, you could still benefit from it in some way. Instead, random people were invited, who were pretended to be high-ranking officials," he said.