Artur Mkrtchyan
{{Short description|Nagarno-Karabakh politician (1959–1992)}}
{{for|the Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler|Artur Mkrtchyan (wrestler)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{onesource|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Artur Mkrtchyan
| native_name = {{nobold|Արթուր Մկրտչյան}}
| office = Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
| image = Artur Mkrtchyan 1993 stamp of Artsakh.jpg
| caption = Mkrtchyan on a 1993 stamp of Nagorno-Karabakh
| predecessor = Office established
| primeminister = Oleg Yesayan
| successor = Georgi Petrosian (acting)
| party = ARF
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1959|02|16}}
| birth_place = Ukhtadzor, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1992|04|14|1959|02|16}}
| death_place = Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
| alma_mater = Yerevan State University
| term_start = 8 January 1992
| term_end = 14 April 1992
}}
Artur Aslani Mkrtchyan ({{langx|hy|Արթուր Ասլանի Մկրտչյան}}; 16 February 1959 – 14 April 1992) was the first Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, who was elected on 7 January 1992.{{cite news
|url = http://www.umd.umich.edu/685098/
|title = Nagorno-Karabagh
|publisher = University of Michigan-Dearborn
|date = 2013
|access-date = 20 October 2013
|archive-date = 20 June 2010
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100620200025/http://www.umd.umich.edu/685098/
|url-status=dead
|quote = On January 8, 1992, Artur Mkrtchian was elected President and Oleg Yessaian as Prime Minister of Karabagh by Karabagh's Parliament. Note that this Presidency is not an independent office such as in the United States.
}}
He made an important contribution to reinforcing the defensive capabilities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, but was fatally shot under unclear circumstances in April 1992.
Biography
Artur Mkrtchyan was born in 1959 in the village of Ukhtadzor in the Hadrut District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.{{Cite web|title=Artur A. Mkrtchyan|url=http://www.nankr.am/en/2434|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-24|website=www.nankr.am|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227003959/http://www.nankr.am:80/en/2434 |archive-date=27 December 2018 }} After graduating from the village secondary school in 1976, he entered the faculty of history at Yerevan State University. After graduating from university, he conducted his post-graduate studies at the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography in Moscow. From 1981 to 1983 he worked at the Armenia Ethnography Museum. In 1986 he returned to his hometown to work as the director of the Hadrut Historical-Geological Museum. In 1988 he defended his PhD thesis and received the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences.
Mkrtchyan was an active participant in the Karabakh movement from its early days. He joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and after that party's victory in the 1991 Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary election, he was elected the first Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 7 January 1992.
Mkrtchyan was killed in his apartment in Stepanakert under mysterious circumstances on 14 April 1992.{{Cite web|last=Hakobyan|first=Tatul|date=26 August 2020|title=Արթուր Մկրտչյան. In Memoriam|url=https://www.aniarc.am/2020/08/26/artur-mkrtchyan-in-memoriam/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-24|website=ANI Armenian Research Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824075402/https://www.aniarc.am/2020/08/26/artur-mkrtchyan-in-memoriam/ |archive-date=24 August 2021 }} While an initial report by the NKR's interior minister, Armen Isagulov, stated that Mkrtchyan had been killed by unknown "gunmen," a later official report described his death as accidental.{{Cite web |date=1992-04-16 |title=Death of Leader in Karabakh Is Called Accidental |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-16-mn-900-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502014556/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-16-mn-900-story.html |archive-date=2022-05-02 |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=1992-04-15 |title=Armenian Leader of Nagorno-Karabakh Parliament Assassinated |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-15-mn-275-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502015049/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-15-mn-275-story.html |archive-date=2022-05-02 |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} In 2019, former commander of the NKR's army, Samvel Babayan, claimed that Mkrtchyan's death was a suicide․{{Cite web |last=Minasyan |first=Lusine |date=2019-04-19 |title=Ասել եմ` վերջ տվեք, եթե չեք ուզում այդ մարդուն վարկաբեկել. Սամվել Բաբայանը` դաշնակցական Արթուր Մկրտչյանի մահվան մասին |trans-title='I said: stop, if you do not want to ruin that man's reputation'. Samvel Babayan on ARF member Artur Mkrtchan's death |url=https://armlur.am/895023/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502021221/https://armlur.am/895023/ |archive-date=2022-05-02 |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=armlur.am}} No one has ever been prosecuted in connection with his death.{{Cite web |date=2020-08-26 |title=Artur Mkrtchyan to be Posthumously Awarded Title of "Artsakh Hero" |url=https://hetq.am/en/article/120877 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502014222/https://hetq.am/en/article/120877 |archive-date=2022-05-02 |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Hetq.am |language=en}} He was succeeded by Georgy Petrosyan as acting chairman of the Supreme Council.
Mkrtchyan had two children. In 2020, Mkrtchyan was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Artsakh.
References
{{Presidents of the National Assembly of Artsakh}}
{{Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mkrtchyan, Artur}}
Category:People from Hadrut Province
Category:Politicians from the Republic of Artsakh
Category:Members of the National Assembly (Artsakh)
{{Armenia-politician-stub}}