Arkadi Ghukasyan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arkadi Ghukasyan
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| Արկադի Ղուկասյան | |
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| 2nd President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic | |
| In office 8 September 1997 – 7 September 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | Leonard Petrosyan Zhirayr Poghosyan Anushavan Danielyan |
| Preceded by | Leonard Petrosyan (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Bako Sahakyan |
| Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh | |
| In office 23 July 1993 – 8 September 1997 |
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| President | Robert Kocharyan Leonard Petrosyan |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | Naira Melkumian |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 June 1957 Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Independent |
| Alma mater | Yerevan State University |
Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan (Armenian: Արկադի Արշավիրի Ղուկասյան; born 22 June 1957) is an Artsakhi politician who served as the second President of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. He was elected as the President on 8 September 1997 and re-elected in 2002, until his term ended on 7 September 2007 and was succeeded by Bako Sahakyan. He was detained by Azerbaijani forces after the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and is currently facing criminal charges in Azerbaijan.
Biography
He survived an assassination attempt in 2000. Samvel Babayan, whom he had recently sacked as defence minister, was convicted of organising the attack and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Babayan was released from imprisonment on 18 September 2004 due to health concerns, with the terms of release including a probationary period and continued disenfranchisement.
In 2015, it was reported that Ghukasyan was the unofficial leader of the Artsakh Republican Party.
On 3 October 2023, Ghukasyan and two other former presidents of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, together with former president of the National Assembly Davit Ishkhanyan, were detained by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan and brought to Baku. Ghukasyan and the other arrested former officials are reportedly facing "grave criminal charges" in Azerbaijan.
Personal life
He has divorced once and remarried.
