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Arayik Harutyunyan was not forced to resign as Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) president before being replaced by Samvel Shahramanyan, Armenian opposition MP Artur Khachatryan insisted on Monday.
Harutyunyan and several other former Artsakh leaders were detained by Azerbaijan following its violent seizure of Artsakh in mid-September.

“It’s yet to be revealed how the change of power took place in Artsakh,” the MP from the opposition Hayastan faction told reporters.

Khachatryan recalled that Shahramanyan and the Artsakh parliament majority were members of Harutyunyan’s Free Homeland Party.

“Are the [Armenian] authorities saying that they refused to intervene to stop the massacre in Artsakh because they disapproved Arayik Harutyunyan’s resignation? Are they trying to use it to justify their inaction?” the deputy asked.

“Arayik Harutyunyan’s imprisonment in Baku is also conditioned by the fact that he knows and can tell much more than the incumbent authorities would like to hear. It’s also about the other presidents. All political opponents of [PM Nikol] Pashinyan are being held in prison in Azerbaijan. This is probably the result of some kind of agreement between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaderships," Khachatryan charged.