Bako Sahaki Sahakyan ( hy, Բակո Սահակի Սահակյան; born 30 August 1960) is an Artsakhi politician who served as the third president of the
''de facto''-independent Republic of Artsakh
Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former ...
from 2007 to 2020. He is the longest-serving president of Artsakh.
He was first elected as President on 19 July 2007. On 19 July 2012, he was re-elected for a second five-year term, receiving approximately two-thirds of the votes.
In 2017, he was re-elected indirectly for a three-year term. Sahakyan replaced
Arkadi Ghukasyan, who had held the presidential post for two five-year terms.
Sahakyan was born on 30 August 1960 in
Stepanakert, capital of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the
Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
. After serving in the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
, he worked for nine years in a
Stepanakert factory. In 1990, he joined the
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
The Artsakh Defence Army ( hy, Արցախի Հանրապետության պաշտպանության բանակ, Artsakhi Hanrapetut’yan pashtpanut’yan banak) is the defence force of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh ( Nagorno-Karabakh). E ...
, of which he became a deputy commander. In 1999, he was named interior minister of Nagorno-Karabakh. He also led the Nagorno-Karabakh security service from 2001 to June 2007,
when he resigned in order to run in the
2007 Nagorno-Karabakh presidential election.
Sahakyan ran as an independent and won the elections with 85 percent of the votes. Voters mainly turned to Sahakyan because of his record in the security services. He pledged to seek full independence for Artsakh, using the example of
international recognition of
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...
as an independent state, which he said would pave the way for acceptance of Artsakh's sovereignty. He was re-elected for a second five-year term
in 2012 and then indirectly by Artsakh's
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
in 2017 for a three-year term. He was succeeded by
Arayik Harutyunyan, who previously served as Sahakyan's prime minister, in 2020.
Sahakyan is married and has two children.
His name is sometimes transcribed as ''Bako Sahakian'' or ''Saakian''.
See also
*
President of Artsakh
*
Artsakh
*
Arkadi Ghukasyan
References
External links
Official website of the President of the Nagorno Karabagh RepublicHigh turnout in Nagorno-Karabakh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahakyan, Bako
1959 births
Living people
Stepanakert
People from Stepanakert
Armenian military personnel of the Nagorno-Karabakh War
Armenian nationalists
Presidents of the Republic of Artsakh
Artsakh military personnel