Jalal Harutyunyan
Tuesday, October 27, 2020Jalal Anatolii Harutyunyan (born 11 November 1974) is a Lieutenant General from the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, currently serving as the Commander of it's Defence Army and Minister of Defence.
Harutyunyan was born on 11 November 1974, in Badara, then a part of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in the Azerbaijan SSR. From 1991 to 1995, he studied biology at Artsakh University. In 1999, he entered the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Military Academy under Ministry of Defence of the Russia.
Harutyunyan has served in the Artsakh Defence Army since 5 November 1992. He served in various positions in the Defence Army, primarily in artillery units, such as the Assistant to the Head of the Artillery Intelligence. He also served as Artillery Chief of a Defence District. From 2018 to 2020, he served as First Deputy Commander. On 24 February 2020, he was appointed as the Minister of Defence by President Bako Sahakyan and was reappointed by President Arayik Harutyunyan on 8 June.Harutyunyan made a call for battle during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict against Azerbaijan. On 27 October 2020, the president of Artsakh announced that Harutyunyan was relieved of his position after being wounded in fighting, replacing him with Mikyael Arzumanyan. Following the statement, Armenian outlets denied claims that Hadrutyunyan was killed, stating his injuries were non life-threatening and that he would return to his position soon. A video showing a UAV strike on a car that allegedly belonged to Harutyunyan began circulating online. However, the spokesperson of the president of Artsakh denied the footage had anything to do with Harutyunyan's injuries.