On 19 July 2012, he was re-elected for a second five-year term, receiving approximately two-thirds of the votes.

Sahakyan replaced Arkadi Ghukasyan, who had held the presidential post for two five-year terms.

On October 3, 2023, Azerbaijan detained Bako Sahakyan from the territory of Artsakh, and since that moment he has been held in Baku in captivity.

[2] Sahakyan was born on 30 August 1960 in Stepanakert, the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijan SSR.

He was succeeded by Arayik Harutyunyan, who previously served as Sahakyan's prime minister, in 2020.