Who Gave Samvel Babayan the Mandate to Negotiate? - 'Zhoghovurd'

After former Security Council member Samvel Babayan moved from Artsakh to Armenia, he rushed to the Public Television and made a series of sensational statements, which either slipped past our law enforcement officials' attention or perhaps there was simply no desire to initiate criminal proceedings regarding the statements of the authorities' favored Samvel Babayan. In his interview with Public Television, Babayan stated that he had conducted covert negotiations with Azerbaijan, adding that they had already reached agreements on certain issues with Azerbaijan.

'We had agreed with Azerbaijan on the autonomous republic, it was written point by point (23 points). Azerbaijan agreed,' said Babayan. He also claimed that all three former presidents of Artsakh should be arrested, which Baku indeed did.

Interestingly, during this time, Babayan held no official position either in Armenia or in Artsakh, and therefore had no authority to negotiate, especially with an enemy state. This raises the question: who gave Samvel Babayan the mandate to negotiate with the enemy? He did not reveal this in his interview.

Considering that Babayan is an unacceptable and unclear figure in Artsakh, it is hard to believe that the authorities of Artsakh would entrust him with such an important issue. On the other hand, if we consider his close ties with Nikol Pashinyan, it is unlikely that Babayan would conduct negotiations without his knowledge.

According to reliable sources from 'Zhoghovurd', the MP from the ruling party, Andranik Kocharyan, acted as a mediator and obtained guarantees from Nikol Pashinyan to grant Babayan the mandate to negotiate with Azerbaijan. To verify this information, the newspaper attempted to contact Andranik Kocharyan, who avoided answering the calls. MP Gagik Melikyan, who is a close friend of both Samvel Babayan and Andranik Kocharyan, stated in a conversation with the newspaper that there is no such thing. 'What connection do Andranik Kocharyan and Nikol Pashinyan have? Samvel Babayan was in Artsakh, so he should have coordinated with the authorities of Artsakh, Araik Harutyunyan; Andranik Kocharyan could not have been a mediator,' Melikyan said. It is a fact that all high-ranking officials who crossed over the Hakari Bridge after Babayan have been arrested by Baku.