[1] In 1988 he became an active participant in the Karabakh movement and was one of the founders of the Alliance of Armenian Students.

From 1994 to 1997 he lived in Crimea, Ukraine, teaching the Armenian language at a school in Yevpatoria.

Hunanyan had developed a plan to improve relations between Armenia and Turkey and reportedly had meetings with several Turkish ministers to discuss the idea.

On 27 October 1999, Hunanyan and four other gunmen, including his brother Karen Hunanyan and his uncle Vram Galstyan, entered the Armenian parliament building and killed the prime minister Vazgen Sargsyan, speaker of parliament Karen Demirchyan and six other officials.

In his statement, Nairi Hunanyan accused the government of leading Armenia into political and economic ruin.