Artur Aslani Mkrtchyan (Armenian: Արթուր Ասլանի Մկրտչյան; 16 February 1959 – 14 April 1992) was the first Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, elected on 7 January 1992.[1]
He made an important contribution to reinforcing the defensive capabilities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, but was fatally shot under unclear circumstances in April 1992.
Mkrtchyan was killed in his apartment in Stepanakert under mysterious circumstances on 14 April 1992.[3] While an initial report by the NKR's interior minister, Armen Isagulov, stated that Mkrtchyan had been killed by unknown "gunmen," a later official report described his death as accidental.[4][5] In 2019, former commander of the NKR's army, Samvel Babayan, claimed that Mkrtchyan's death was a suicide․[6] No one has ever been prosecuted in connection with his death.[7] He was succeeded by Georgy Petrosyan as acting chairman of the Supreme Council.[4]
Mkrtchyan had two children. In 2020, Mkrtchyan was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Artsakh.[7]
References
^"Nagorno-Karabagh". University of Michigan-Dearborn. 2013. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2013. On January 8, 1992, Artur Mkrtchian was elected President and Oleg Yessaian as Prime Minister of Karabagh by Karabagh's Parliament. Note that this Presidency is not an independent office such as in the United States.
^Hakobyan, Tatul (26 August 2020). "Արթուր Մկրտչյան. In Memoriam". ANI Armenian Research Center. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.