STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan has announced he is stepping down as Chairman of the ruling Free Motherland (AHK) party.

“I have decided to abandon the position of Free Motherland Party president and leave the party in order for me to be able to act and be perceived in the post of the President of the Republic as a head of state above any party, as a politician who must be accepted as a unifying person especially in times of crises,” Harutyunyan said in an address.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan