Masis Samveli Mayilyan (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

:Մասիս Սամվելի Մայիլյան; born 14 September 1967) is an Artsakhi politician, diplomat and former presidential candidate. He is currently serving as ambassador-at-large of the Republic of Artsakh. From September 2017 until January 2021, he served as the Foreign Minister of Artsakh.

Biography

Early life and education

Mayilyan was born on 14 September 1967 in

Stepanakert / az, Xankəndi, italic=no , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = File:StepanakertCollage.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = From top left: Holy Mother ...

, the capital of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...

, then a part of the

Azerbaijani SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

. From 1984 to 1991 he studied at the Stepanakert State Pedagogical Institute and graduated from the Department of Physics and Mathematics, majoring in engineering and physics. From 1991 to 1992 he pursued his postgraduate studies

Armenian State Pedagogical University Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) ( hy, Խաչատուր Աբովյանի անվան հայկական պետական մանկավարժական համալսարան, ՀՊՄՀ), is a state university and higher educa ...

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and ...

. He graduated from the

Diplomatic Academy of Vienna The Diplomatic Academy of Vienna (DA; German: ''Diplomatische Akademie Wien''), also known as the Vienna School of International Studies, is a postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, cert ...

in 1998.

Career

Mayilyan began his career at the State Defense Committee of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic 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 N ...

from 1992 to 1993. He worked as the chief expert for the committee's information and press sections. In 1993 he began his work at the Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, where he occupied various posts and participated in the negotiation process for the resolution of the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerba ...

. From 2001 to 2007, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister under President Arkadi Ghukasyan.

2007 Artsakh presidential election

In the 2007 Artsakh presidential election, Mayilyan ran for

President of Artsakh The president of Artsakh or president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the head of state and head of government of the ''de facto'' Republic of Artsakh. In a constitutional referendum held in 2017, citizens of the Republic voted in favor ...

for the first time, receiving 12.53% of the vote and coming in at second place behind

Bako Sahakyan 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 from 2007 to 2020. He is the longest-serving p ...

, who won 85.12% of the vote and became Artsakh's third president.

Foreign Minister and 2020 presidential campaign

On 25 September 2017, Mayilyan was appointed Foreign Minister by President

. He participated in

2020 Artsakhian general election General elections were held in the Republic of Artsakh on 31 March 2020, with a second round of the presidential election on 14 April. Voters elected the President and 33 members of the National Assembly. It was the first time the President and Na ...

as a presidential candidate and was endorsed by

New Artsakh Alliance The New Artsakh Alliance ( hy, Նոր Արցախ դաշինք) is an Armenian political alliance in Artsakh. History The New Artsakh Alliance was established on 29 January, 2020 during a conference in Stepanakert. The political alliance consist ...

and Samvel Babayan's United Motherland party. He came at the second place in the first round of the election and a run-off between him and

Arayik Harutyunyan Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan ( hy, Արայիկ Վլադիմիրի Հարությունյան; born 14 December 1973) is an Armenian politician who has been serving as the President of Artsakh since 2020. He was formerly the 1st State Minister fr ...

was held on 14 April 2020. However, he made an announcement urging the people of Artsakh not to participate in the second round of elections in order to prevent the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. Mayilyan received nearly 12% in the run-off vote, while Arayik Harutyunyan received 88% of the vote and became the 4th

. Mayilyan was reappointed to the post of foreign minister after the inauguration of President

in May 2020. On 1 December 2020, in the aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, President Harutyunyan announced that a national unity government would be formed and a number of cabinet officials would be replaced. Masis Mayilyan was dismissed in early January 2021 and was made an ambassador-at-large. He was succeeded by David Babayan.

References

External links

Official Biography by the government
{{Authority control Armenian diplomats Living people Politicians from the Republic of Artsakh 1967 births Foreign ministers