Seyran Musheghi Ohanyan (Armenian:Սեյրան Մուշեղի Օհանյան; born 1 July 1962) is an Armenian military officer and politician currently serving as a deputy in theNational Assembly of Armenia. He served asDefence Minister of Armenia from 14 April 2008 until 3 October 2016. A native ofNagorno-Karabakh, he participated in both thefirst andsecond Karabakh wars, and from 2000 to 2007 served asdefence minister of the unrecognizedRepublic of Artsakh.
Ohanyan was born in the town ofShusha, then in theNagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of theAzerbaijan SSR in theSoviet Union. In 1979, he completed high school in the village ofMrgashen, in the Nairi district of theArmenian SSR (now located in theKotayk province of Armenia).[1]
Ohanyan attended theBaku Higher Joint Command College and completed his studies there in 1983. He subsequently served with theGroup of Soviet Forces in Germany, first as a platoon commander and from March 1987 as a company commander. In June 1988 he was transferred to theTranscaucasian Military District's23rd Motor-Rifle Division based inKirovabad, Azerbaijan and was appointed motor-rifle company commander of the366th Motor Rifle Regiment based inStepanakert; he became deputy battalion commander in August 1989 and 2nd battalion commander within the same regiment in September 1990.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the 366th regiment was pulled out of Stepanakert in March 1992 and Ohanyan joinedNagorno-Karabakh's newly formed army, playing a major role in theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh war againstAzerbaijan.[1] In May 1992, Ohanyan participated in thecapture of his hometown of Shushi, one of the most significant victories achieved by the Armenian side. He led a force of 400 men against the fortified town from the southwestern direction.[2] He was seriously wounded in action nearChldran,Martakert district in September 1992, with his leg amputated as a result. Following treatment, Ohanyan rejoined the military.
After the war, he served as deputy commander of theNagorno-Karabakh Defence Army from 1994 to 1998, commander ofArmenia's 5th Army Corps from 1998 to 1999 andDefence Minister of theNagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1999 to 2007. Ohanyan was promoted to major general in 1995, lieutenant general in 2000 and colonel general in 2007.
In May 2007, Ohanyan was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces and First Deputy Minister of Defence ofArmenia.
AfterSerzh Sargsyan took office as President of Armenia, he appointed Ohanyan as Minister of Defence on 14 April 2008.[3][4] During Ohanyan's time as Defence Minister, Armenian forces fought with Azerbaijan in theFour-Day War of April 2016, which was the worst outbreak of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh after the1994 ceasefire and before the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. He was dismissed from his post in October 2016.
In February 2017, Ohanyan formed a political coalition with opposition politiciansVartan Oskanian andRaffi Hovannisian and their respective political parties to participate in the2017 Armenian parliamentary election. The "Ohanian-Raffi-Oskanian" alliance received 32,508 votes in the 2017 election, failing to reach the 5 percent threshold required to enter parliament.[5]
In 2019 and 2020, Ohanyan was called several times to answer the questions of the Armenian parliament's investigative committee on the Four-Day War.[6]
Ohanyan went to Nagorno-Karabakh to command Armenian forces after the start of the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War in September 2020. Although Armenian and Artsakh authorities reported that Ohanyan commanded Armenian forces during thefour-day battle for Shusha (which ended in the capture of the town by Azerbaijani forces),[7][8][9] Ohanyan himself later denied this, stating that he only led a detachment of 16 men during the battle.[10] TheAzerbaijani Army claimed that they had wounded Ohanyan during the battle, a claim which was denied by the spokesperson of thePresident of Artsakh.[11] On 11 November, the Baku Military Court initiated a criminal case against him in absentia with the charge of "genocide". Azerbaijan'sMinistry of Internal Affairs also put him on their international wanted list.[12][13]
After the end of the war, Ohanyan joined a number of officials in calling for the resignation of Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan, saying that "the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the inviolability of its borders, and the physical existence of the population are endangered" should he not leave.[14]
On 5 February 2021, Ohanyan announced his intention to participate in potential snap elections.[15] He participated in the2021 Armenian parliamentary election as a member of theArmenia Alliance, an electoral coalition led by ex-president Robert Kocharyan.[16] Ohanyan currently leads the Armenia Alliance's parliamentary bloc in the National Assembly of Armenia.[17]
In January 2019, Ohanyan was charged with "overthrowing the constitutional order" in relation to the2008 Armenian presidential election protests, when army and police forces suppressed mass protests against the election results, resulting in the deaths of 10 people. Ohanyan was serving asChief of the General Staff at the time. He was tried along with former presidentRobert Kocharyan, generalYuri Khachaturov, and former security council secretaryArmen Gevorgyan, although the trial was delayed in September 2020 due to Ohanyan's participation in the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.[18][19] The trial ended in March 2021 after the Constitutional Court of Armenia declared unconstitutional the article of the criminal code under which Ohanyan, Kocharyan, Khachaturov, and Gevorgyan were being tried.[20]
In March 2020, he was charged with embezzlement of state funds during his tenure as defence minister. Ohanyan denies all charges.[21]
In May 2021, Ohanyan was charged with embezzlement of property from theDzoraget Hydroelectric Power Station. Ohanyan denies the charges.[22]
Ohanyan is married to Ruzanna Khachatryan, an Armenian doctor,[23] and has three sons and one daughter.[1] His oldest son David is an officer in theArmenian Army. His other son Arthur is an officer in theArtsakh Defence Army and was wounded during the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.[24][25]
Ohanyan has been awarded with the medals and decorations of theUSSR,Armenia andRepublic of Artsakh:[1]
Order of the Combat Cross, 1st class Tigran Mets Order Drastamat Kanayan MedalMedal of Marshal Baghramyan Medal "For the Service to the Motherland"
Medal "For the liberation of Shushi"Hero of Artsakh (September 1999) Order of the Combat Cross, 1st class
Medal "For Distinction in Military Service"Medal "For Impeccable Service", 3rd classJubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"Former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan was also on the platform. According to the media, he is also going to be on the 'Armenia' alliance's list
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Defence of Armenia 2008 – 2016 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
Presidency ofSerzh Sargsyan (2008–2018) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
