Sargsyan suggests Armenian leadership may have influenced capture of Artsakh officials

Former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan suggests that the Armenian authorities may have influenced which Artsakh officials were captured by Azerbaijan following the 2023 military offensive and takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The Artsakh military and political leaders chose the path of self-sacrifice. I suspect that Armenia’s leadership may have had a hand in determining who ended up on the list of those taken captive by Azerbaijan,” Sargsyan said during an episode of the Imnmenimi podcast on Friday.

He questioned why Azerbaijan allowed the Artsakh army commander to reach Armenia while detaining a former defense minister who had left office two years earlier.

Sargsyan added that former Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan was aware of the list of detainees and would eventually reveal more details. He described the situation as a “national disgrace”, rejecting the Armenian government’s peace rhetoric while Armenians remain in Azerbaijani captivity.