Araik Harutyunyan Met with Head of Azerbaijan’s State Security Service, Says Khanumyan

During my tenure as a minister, there was active communication with representatives from Azerbaijan. This was stated by the former Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Artsakh, Hayk Khanumyan, during a broadcast on Public TV.

“For instance, Araik Harutyunyan met with Ali Nagiyev, the head of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan. They met in the Red Market, in Mataghis, and in Stepanakert at the government’s summer residence,” he noted.

Khanumyan mentioned that during one of the meetings, Nagiyev conveyed Ilham Aliyev’s words, urging the Artsakh side not to place their hopes on the leaders of other countries. “He said, do not place your hope on Macron, do not place your hope on Biden, do not place your hope even on Putin. None of these people can have any influence on this matter. Let’s sit down, talk, negotiate, resolve the issues, and move forward,” Khanumyan said, adding, “In fact, when Aliyev said that he was sending messages and they did not understand anything, those messages were stated directly.”

When asked if these were facts, Hayk Khanumyan responded positively.

He also noted that the Artsakh authorities, who were claiming that negotiations should be mediated by the Russians, were perceived by Azerbaijan as agents, and they did not want to communicate with these individuals because they believed they were serving another country's interests and were moving under the direction of another country.

“On the very day of the war, September 19, in the evening, when I called Samvel Shahramanyan and asked him to leave the responsibility to Samvel Babayan, who was willing to take it on at that moment, I stated that the Azerbaijanis accepted him as an agent, without taking offense, and for that, they would punish him severely. On the evening of September 8, Samvel Babayan was invited to the National Assembly. I called and asked what they discussed, and he said that they had put before him that Azerbaijan had given an ultimatum that if elections took place and Samvel Shahramanyan was elected, who was the only candidate, they would begin a ‘counter-terrorism operation’,” Khanumyan specified.

In response to the observation that everything was explicitly stated, Khanumyan reacted: “It was stated directly, and all of this was conveyed to Samvel Babayan by parliamentary forces. Present at the meeting were Davit Ishkhanyan, Vice President of the National Assembly Gagik Bagunts, and leaders of the political forces forming parliamentary factions, Ashot Ghulyan, Hakob Hakobyan, and Arthur Mosiyan. All of this was stated in their presence, including the ultimatum from Azerbaijan. But they said, we take responsibility, we hold elections, we ask you not to stage a demonstration.”

To a clarifying question on whether they thought that Russia would help, Hayk Khanumyan responded: “Yes, they were convinced that Russia would open the roads, even through Aghdam, and they would be able to solve those issues. And until the end, I believe they were confident that Russia would help them and they would end up in Yerevan, not Baku.”