Former Artsakh Security Council Secretary Samvel Babayan, in a statement issued today, has denied reports that he fled Artsakh during the 2020 war and has petitioned Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate the source of those “scandalous rumors”.

Babayan claims he was sent to Yerevan on November 6, three days before the ceasefire, on the orders of Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan.

Babayan writes that the purpose and results of the trip are state secrets not subject to publication.

He says that when he learnt of the November 9 ceasefire agreement, which he describes as “unfavorable for the Armenian side”, he resigned from the post, arguing it had become “meaningless”.

Babayan writes that he was questioned twice as part of an investigation of the war, and that law enforcement did not detain him at the time.

After resigning, Babayan, who also served as Artsakh Defense Minter (1994-2000), was appointed a consultant in the Armenian parliament’s inquiry committee tasked with investigating the 2020 Karabakh war.