Kocharyan reveals why Artsakh leader avoided meeting him at 2020 war

Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan has stated that then Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan declined to meet with him during the 2020 war, fearing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's reaction.

“I arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh on the third day of the war and stayed there for two weeks. Shortly after my arrival, I reached out to both [former Artsakh presidents] Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan, asking for a meeting with Arayik Harutyunyan,” Kocharyan said at a meeting with students and professors of the Armenian University on Tuesday.

He explained that his primary goal was to underscore the urgent need to end the war, warning that prolonging the conflict would only worsen the crisis. “We were unprepared and victory was unattainable under these changed circumstances,” he said.

According to Kocharyan, Bako Sahakyan relayed a message from Harutyunyan, saying, “If I meet with Kocharyan, Pashinyan will devour me.”

“We saw the consequences in Karabakh,” Kocharyan added.