Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Arayik Harutyunyan, who has submitted his resignation, issued an appeal. It reads as follows:

Dear compatriots,

You are aware that from September 1, I have resigned from the powers of the President of the Republic of Artsakh based on my letter of resignation to the National Assembly. I would like to touch on a few basic questions regarding these and related developments.

  1. Why didn't I resign earlier? Because the current constitutional regulations assumed that in case of my resignation, simultaneous snap presidential and parliamentary elections shall be organized, and the possibility of its realization was very vague, especially in the conditions of the blockade. Therefore, I initiated and the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the Constitution so that it would be possible to elect a transitional President by the parliament during martial law until the end of the current President of the Republic’s term of office. Article 168.1 of the Constitution entered into force in July, after which I thought several times about the right moment. But in order not to negatively affect important foreign political developments, I waited for some time and made my decision at the end of August.
  2. What will happen before the election of the new president of the Republic? As the Constitution regulates, the President of the National Assembly temporarily exercises the powers of the President of the Republic, which is just a matter of a few days. In addition, as I have stated, before my resignation I appointed a new minister of state with broad powers, so that it is also possible to maintain the stability of the state system through that.
  3. Who will be the next President of the Republic? The resolution of that matter is reserved by the Constitution solely to the National Assembly, based on the recommendations of the factions. Therefore, I call on the MPs to be guided by their conscience in the matter of the election of the President of the Republic and not to succumb to various petty group influences.

Let me remind [you] that immediately after the 44-day war [in 2020], I stopped my party activities and have nothing to do with the Free Motherland party. Therefore, I cannot and do not want to get involved in forming the position of the Free Motherland-UCA Faction of the National Assembly, and they will decide their approaches completely independently.

Neither I nor any other third party has the right to interfere with that process. I urge all political and public figures to show restraint and be guided by the legislation and high democratic political culture of the Artsakh Republic.

This is the most important examination of our state and political systems, which we must pass with honor and without an upheaval. If any person or group tries to provoke upheavals, it will be a most serious blow to the constitutional order and future of the Artsakh Republic. As for the various statements coming from the Republic of Armenia in recent days, which are made in favor of or against this or that possible [Artsakh presidential] candidate, then I simply ask those people not to interfere and disrupt the fragile stability of Artsakh's domestic life, in such a difficult period in that.

What will I do from now on? First of all, I will stand with the newly elected President of the Republic, regardless of who he is, and I will assist him with all my abilities in overcoming the existing internal and external challenges in a dignified and effective manner. Apart from that, as I have announced, I will direct my main efforts to assist the work of ensuring the security of Artsakh, without opening brackets publicly. But I will not engage in domestic political activities at all.

In any case, I will not go underground, and I will also regularly make public address on important issues for Artsakh.