Bako Sahakyan

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Former security chief Bako Sahakyan waves after he cast his ballot in the presidential election in the Armenian-controlled breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Nagorno-Karabakh

President Bako Sahakyan Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan National Assembly Political parties Elections: 2007 (pres) See also: Politics of Armenia Politics of Azerbaijan
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Bako Sahakyan (born August 30, 1960, Armenian: Բակո Սահակյան, sometimes transcribed as Bako Sahakian or Saakian) was the former security chief of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic^[1]^[2] and currently the third president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.^[3] He replaced Arkadi Ghukasyan, who held the presidential post for two five-year terms.

1 Background
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Background

Sahakyan was born in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, in 1961. After serving in the Soviet army, he worked for nine years in a Stepanakert factory. In 1990, he joined the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, of which he became a deputy commander.^[4] 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 elections.

Bako 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.^[5] He has pledged to seek full independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, using the example that international recognition of Kosovo as an independent state would pave the way for acceptance of Nagorno-Karabakh's sovereignty.^[6]

Bako Sahakyan is married and has two children.