Who Was the Mediator Between Samvel Babayan and the Azerbaijanis: 'Hraparak'

'Hraparak' reports: During the last period of the blockade of Artsakh, Samvel Babayan publicly confessed that he had negotiated with the Azerbaijani side, exchanging a package of principles to keep Artsakh under Azerbaijani mandate. Recently, certain circles in Artsakh have confronted him, inquiring how he managed to establish contact with the Azerbaijanis and negotiate, considering that Azerbaijanis usually do not meet with random individuals.

Babayan mentioned the name of the individual who acted as a mediator between him and some Azerbaijani officials; he regularly brought documents to the Armenian checkpoint at the Red Market, handed them over, and then took their documents in return. This person is Artsakh resident Razmik Aghasyan—a middle-aged man about whom not much is known, but there is no doubt that he has had long-term ties with the Azerbaijanis, or else he would not have been trusted.

It turns out that the Armenian authorities are pursuing criminal charges for espionage against Sargis Galstyan, yet are turning a blind eye to another person, Razmik Aghasyan, who acted as Babayan's intermediary. Interestingly, it has been reported that Russian peacekeepers caught Razmik Aghasyan during another exchange and had a stern conversation with the then-President of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, questioning how he was engaging in separate negotiations with the Azerbaijanis while demanding security from them.