Samwel Babajan

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Samwel Babajan ( Armenian : ՍամվելԲաբայան; born March 5, 1965 in Stepanakert , Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region , Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic ) is a former Armenian military commander and politician who took part in the Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early 1990s. After the war he served as defense minister of the internationally unrecognized " Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh " until the end of 1999 . During this time, Babajan rose to become the most powerful man within the Karabach power circle, who had great influence on the government and controlled the economy.

biography

Babajan obtained his secondary school leaving certificate in 1982. From 1983 to 1985 he did his military service in the German Democratic Republic .

When the Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region intensified, Babajan joined a paramilitary voluntary unit from Stepanakert in 1988, and in 1989 he became the leader of the group. During the Armenian operation "Ring" in June 1991 he was arrested by the Azerbaijani side and spent more than six months in prison in Baku .

The voluntary unit he commands played a crucial role in the annexation of the Azerbaijani cities of Shuşa and Laçın in May 1992. Between 1993 and 1999, Babajan was commander in chief of the armed forces of the separatist “Nagorno-Karabakh” republic . On the part of the Karabakh Armenians, he signed the Bishkek Protocol on the Armistice in May 1994, which heralded the end of active fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In March 2000 there was an armed attack in Stepanakert against the "President" of the "Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh" Arkadi Ghukassjan . Babajan was accused of being the mastermind and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment after a court decision. Ghukassjan, who survived the attack seriously injured, pardoned Babajan in September 2004.

In November 2005, Babajan founded a new political party called “ Daschink ”, which, however, could not record any notable successes.

In 2011, Babajan emigrated to Russia , but returned to Armenia five years later . In March 2017, the Armenian Security Service arrested Babajan again on the grounds that he had illegally smuggled anti-aircraft missile systems into the country. His arrest came just weeks before the parliamentary elections in Armenia. Babajan coordinated the election campaign of the ORO alliance (Ohanjan-Raffi-Oskanian axis), the main challenger of the Republican Party around the then President Serzh Sargsyan . After the revolution in Armenia in April 2018, which resulted in the overthrow of Serzh Sargsyan, Babajan was released.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Freeing of Karabakh Military Chief Stirs Debate . In: Institute for War and Peace Reporting . ( iwpr.net [accessed September 4, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Кавказский Узел: Бабаян Самвел Андраникович . In: Кавказский Узел . ( kavkaz-uzel.eu [accessed September 4, 2018]).
  3. ↑ The Spoils of War: Report From Nagorno-Karabakh | Alicia Patterson Foundation. Accessed September 4, 2018 .
  4. ^ Armenian Court Sentences Former Karabakh Commander Babayan To Six Years In Prison. Accessed September 4, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Объяснение: Самвел Бабаян . In: mediamax.am . ( mediamax.am [accessed September 4, 2018]).
  6. ↑ ArmeniaNow.com: Babayan's Back: Former Karabakh strongman returns to Armenia after four-day war | ArmeniaNow.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018 (American English).
  7. ^ Former Karabakh Commander Samvel Babayan Freed By High Court | Asbarez.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018 (American English).
personal data
SURNAME Babajan, Samwel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Armenian military commander and politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Stepanakert , Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region , Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic