Bako Sahakyan

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. He has pledged to seek full independence of Artsakh, using the example that international recognition of Kosovo as an independent state would pave the way for acceptance of Artsakh's sovereignty. He was re-elected for a second five-year term in 2012 and then indirectly in 2017 for a three-year term.

Sahakyan was born in Stepanakert, NKAO, Azerbaijan SSR, in 1960. 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. 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 election.

Bako Sahakyan (Armenian: Բակո Սահակյան ; born 30 August 1959) was the third president of the de facto-independent Republic of Artsakh. He was first elected as President on 19 July 2007. On 19 July 2012, he was re-elected for a second five-year term, receiving approximately two-thirds of the votes. In 2017, he was re-elected indirectly for a three-year term. Sahakyan replaced Arkadi Ghukasyan, who had held the presidential post for two five-year terms.