Arayik Harutyunyan today announced that he will resign as Artsakh’s president tomorrow, September 1.

Harutyunyan, in a Facebook post today, writes his decision to resign is mainly due to a lack of public trust of Artsakh authorities following the 2020 Karabakh war defeat and the resulting difficulties in the country. (The post is in Armenian.)

“Therefore, the change must start with me,” Harutyunyan writes, saying he made his decision to resign two days ago “taking into account my interactions with all internal and external actors and the general public in recent weeks.”

Harutyunyan’s announcement was not a total surprise since it came after several days of speculation and press reports hinting at his resignation.

Harutyunyan also announced that he’s dismissed Gurgen Nersisyan as state minister, replacing him with Security Council Secretary Samvel Sergey Shahramanyan.

Harutyunyan, who assumed the presidency on May 21, 2020, writes that even though he was in office for a mere four months prior to the Azerbaijani military invasion he assumes responsibility for the Armenian military defeat, adding “believe me, each of us had his share of responsibility, each according to his status and abilities.”

“In any case, I have stated several times, now I publicly again apologize to the Armenian people for my share of guilt, but I assert again that in 2020, during the 44-day war, I took all the steps within my power and actual authority, maybe even more.”

Harutyunyan says his resignation is also aimed at ensuring internal stability and strong public order in Artsakh.

While Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan welcomed Harutyunyan’s presidential election victory in April 2020, the two have been at loggerheads over Yerevan’s stance in peace negotiations with Azerbaijan.

Harutyunyan travelled to Yerevan in October 2020 to voice his displeasure regarding the October 6 Prague statement confirming Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s commitment to recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, 

The announcement followed a meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Council President Charles Michel.