Samvel Babayan
Samvel Andraniki Babayan (; born 5 March 1965) is an Armenian military commander and politician from Nagorno-Karabakh. He was one of the founders and main commanders of the Artsakh Defence Army during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and became a hero among Armenians for the military victories achieved under his command. Following the war, he served as the Defense Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 2000. During this period, Babayan "became not only the military leader but the most powerful man in Karabakh overall, controlling its government and economy" until his arrest and imprisonment in 2000 on charges of attempting to assassinate Arkadi Ghukasyan, President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Babayan was released from prison early in 2004. He served as Secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh from May 2020 until November 2020, when he resigned after the defeat of the Armenian side in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Biography Early life Babayan was born on 5 March 1965 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan SSR. In 1982, he finished Armenian secondary school #7 named after Yeghishe Charents in Stepanakert. From 1983 to 1985, he served in the Soviet military contingent in East Germany. According to Thomas de Waal, Babayan made his living as a garage mechanic and car-washer and also worked at a café before the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. First Nagorno-Karabakh War In 1988, Samvel Babayan enlisted in a paramilitary unit and rose to command his own unit. From 1989 to 1991 he was the commander of the Stepanakert Second Volunteers Company and a member of the Stepanakert underground central headquarters. In 1991 he was arrested by Azerbaijani authorities for his paramilitary activities but was released the same year in exchange for an Azerbaijani official captured by Armenian forces. Babayan rose to prominence during the military phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in 1991–1994. Babayan coordinated Armenian operations in Karabakh, participated in the planning of the capture of Shusha and was the commander of the Lachin front. As unified military command began to be established in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992–1993, Babayan became the Commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army in 1993, after his predecessor Serzh Sargsyan left to become Armenia's Defense Minister. Under his command, the Karabakhi military won a number of strategic battles against the Azerbaijani military and regained control over most of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as partially controlling 7 districts of Azerbaijan. Babayan was one of the signatories of the 1994 ceasefire which ended the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Post-war leadership and arrest Samvel Babayan established himself as the most powerful man in Nagorno-Karabakh in the aftermath of the war. According to Thomas de Waal, Babayan acquired significant wealth by selling materials taken from the Azerbaijani districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and by establishing a monopoly over cigarette and fuel imports to Nagorno-Karabakh through a company registered in his wife's name. Babayan used his position to acquire land, businesses and tax privileges. After Nagorno-Karabakh's president Robert Kocharyan left his position to become prime minister of Armenia, Babayan became even more influential in