A plaque at the foyer of Artsakh’s parliament commemorates 11 MPs lost during the war. Photo by Emil Sanamyan, July 2016.

In less than two years since its election in December 1991, the parliament of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic lost 11 of its 75 members. Most were killed in combat in defense of their election districts. Below is a brief description with a few details about each of these MPs.

Vagharshak Arushanyan, MP from Karintak in Shushi district, was killed on January 26, 1992, less than a month after his election, defending his native village from Azerbaijani army attack. Arushanyan was a collective farm worker before the war and joined ARF in 1989. He was 43 and survived by four children.

Artur Mkrtchyan, elected president of parliament on January 8 1992 as the ARF-backed candidate, was killed in a firearms accident in his home in Stepanakert on April 14, 1992. Mkrtchyan was an anthropology museum director in Hadrut before the war. He was 43 and survived by two children.

Vagif Galstyan, MP from Kusapat, Mardakert district. He was killed on June 17, 1992, while fighting in defense of Chailu village near his election district. Before the war, Galstyan worked as a mining engineer. He was 41 and survived by three children.

Zhora Poghosyan, MP from Chailu (Haykajur), Mardakert district. He was killed on June 30, 1992 in fighting for his election district. Prior to the war Poghosyan was a farm worker. He was 36 and survived by two children.

Boris Hakobyan, MP from Vank in Mardakert district. He was killed on January 20, 1993 in bombing by Azerbaijani aircraft. Prior to the war Hakobyan headed a collective farm. He was 55 and survived by four children.

Boris Babayan, MP from Stepanakert. In October 1992 he became the NKR State Defense Committee representative in Mardakert. He was killed on February 20, 1993 in bombing by Azerbaijani aircraft. Babayan was a construction engineer before the war. He was 40 and survived by three children.

Barmen Grigoryan, MP from Haterk, Mardakert district was killed on March 27, 1993 not far from Haterk, during early stages of operation to capture Kelbajar. Grigoryan was a school teacher before the war. He was 40 and survived by four children.

Vigen Grigoryan, MP from Togh in Hadrut district, was also a deputy commander of a local self-defense battalion. He was killed in a mine explosion on April 5, 1993. Grigoryan was a school principal before the war. He was 41 and survived by three children.

Shahen Meghryan, ARF MP from Gulistan in Shaumyan district, was also his district’s self-defense commander. Following Shaumyan’s occupation in June 1992, Meghryan commanded a guerrilla force operating in the rear of Azerbaijani forces. Meghryan and others were killed on April 17, 1993 when a helicopter they were in was shot down close to Gulistan. Prior to the war, Meghryan headed a food processing plant in Shaumyan. He was 41 and survived by three children.

Two more MPs were killed in separate incidents in October 1993 that were unlikely to have been combat-related. Their deaths were never properly investigated and circumstances remain murky to this day.

Norair Danielyan from Gulyatag in Mardakert district was a college student when he was detained by Soviet / Azerbaijani security forces and held hostage from December 1990 until April 1992, when he was exchanged for Azerbaijani prisoners. Danielyan became commander in his native Mardakert and was elected to parliament in June 1993 to fill the vacancy left after the death of Boris Hakobyan. Danielyan died on October 18, 1993 near Stepanakert. He was 26.

Suren Tsatryan from Khanabad in Askeran district, a commander in his native district, he was elected MP in June 1993 to fill a vacancy. He was killed in Askeran on October 30, 1993 together with his brother, Askeran district’s deputy commander Sanasar Tsatryan. Before the war Tsatryan worked as a mechanic in his village. He was 27 and survived by one child.