Arkadi Ghukasyan was born in Stepanakert in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Republic of the Azerbaijan SSR on 22 June 1957.

He started his career as a correspondent for the newspaper Khorhrdayin Gharabagh ("Soviet Karabakh"), becoming its deputy editor-in-chief in 1981.

[citation needed] In 1991, Ghukasyan was elected to the first parliament of the newly declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

In September 1992, he was appointed political adviser to the Chairman of the State Defense Committee, and headed the NKR's delegations during OSCE-mediated negotiations with Azerbaijan.

Samvel Babayan, whom he had recently sacked as defence minister, was convicted of organising the attack and sentenced to 14 years in prison.