Azerbaijani officials have confirmed the reports of the arrest of a former president of the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Arayik Harutyunyan, who presided over the separatist government during the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, was detained on Tuesday.
Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general and the secret service said the 49-year-old had been arrested “on suspicion of waging an aggressive war” against Azerbaijan, as well as alleged war crimes.
Two other former presidents of the separatist region — Arkadi Gukasian, who served from 1997 to 2007, and Bako Sahakyan, who served from 2007 to 2020 — were also arrested on Tuesday.
Arayik’s arrest comes after Baku launched a lightning invasion against the enclave, which resulted in its ethnic Armenian authorities agreeing to disband, and most of its population fleeing to Armenia.
On Wednesday, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned” Azerbaijan for the arrest of Harutyunyan as well as several other separatist leaders.
Those include Ruben Vardanyan, the billionaire former president of the enclave who governed between November 2022 and February.
