Vazgen Sargsyan

Vazgen Sargsyan
Prime Minister of Armenia
In office June 11, 1999 – October 27, 1999
President	Robert Kocharyan
Preceded by	Armen Darbinyan
Succeeded by	Aram Sargsyan
Defence Minister of Armenia
In office July 25, 1995 – June 11, 1999
President	Levon Ter-Petrosyan Robert Kocharyan
Preceded by	Serzh Sargsyan
Succeeded by	Vagharshak Harutiunyan
In office December 5, 1991 – October 20, 1992
President	Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Vazgen Manukyan
State Minister on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs
In office July 1993 – July 25, 1995
President	Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Serzh Sargsyan
Presidential Adviser on Defence Affairs
In office October 20, 1992 – March 5, 1993
President	Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Vazgen Manukyan
Head of the Supreme Council Commission on Defence and Internal Affairs
In office June 1990 – December 5, 1991
President	Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1959-03-05)March 5, 1959 Ararat, Soviet Armenia
Died	October 27, 1999(1999-10-27) (aged 40) Yerevan, Armenia
Resting place	Yerablur
Political party	Republican Party of Armenia
Relations	Aram Sargsyan (brother)
Alma mater	Yerevan Institute of Physical Culture
Occupation	teacher, writer
Awards	National Hero of Armenia Hero of Artsakh
Signature
Nickname	Sparapet
Military service
Branch/service	Armed Forces of Armenia
Years of service	1990—1994
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Nagorno-Karabakh War

Vazgen Sargsyan (Armenian: Վազգեն Սարգսյան, Armenian: [vɑzˈɡɛn sɑɾkʰsˈjɑn] ) (March 5, 1959 – October 27, 1999) was an Armenian military commander and politician. He joined the movement for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the late 1980s and led the Armenian volunteers during the early clashes with the Azerbaijanis. Sargsyan became the head of the Defence Committee of the Armenian parliament in 1990 and soon after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in September 1991, he was appointed Defence Minister of Armenia by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Sargsyan was the main commander of the Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, which escalated into a full-scale war by 1992. In August 1992, Sargsyan organized and led a volunteer battalion which turned the course of the war in favor of the Armenian side. Between 1992 to 1995 he served in different positions responsible for regulating the military operations in the war area. A ceasefire was reached in 1994, ending the war with an Armenian victory and de facto unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

From 1995 to 1999 Sargsyan served as Defence Minister, finishing the establishment of the Armed Forces of Armenia. He continuously supported President Ter-Petrosyan to retain power by using his influence in elections and suppression of opposition. However, this changed in February 1998 when Sargsyan forced Ter-Petrosyan out of his office due to disagreements around the settlement policies over Nagorno-Karabakh. With Sargsyan's support, Robert Kocharyan was elected president in March 1998. Their relations soon deteriorated and by early 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan merged Yerkrapah, the prominent group of the Nagorno-Karabakh war veterans, into the Republican Party of Armenia to form a political base in the parliament. Sargsyan then joined Armenia's former Soviet leader Karen Demirchyan to form an alliance prior to the parliamentary election. Their Unity bloc and its sympathizers won majority to the National Assembly in May 30, 1999 election. Sargsyan became the Prime Minister, emerging as the de facto decision-maker in Armenia, more powerful than President Kocharyan.

Just five months later, Vazgen Sargsyan, along with Demirchyan and several others, was assassinated in the Armenian parliament shooting on October 27, 1999. The perpetrators were sentenced to lifetime in prison, however, the distrust toward the trial process gave birth to a number of conspiracy theories. Some experts and politicians argued that their assassination was masterminded by President Kocharyan and National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan. Others have speculated the possible involvement of Russia, the ARF or the Western powers in the shooting.

Today, Sargsyan is widely recognized as a national hero and seen as the founder of the Armenian Army, which concluded a victorious war with Azerbaijan over the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region. His contribution to the establishment of an independent Armenian state and ensuring its security are greatly valued. Sargsyan was awarded with the highest titles of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh—National Hero of Armenia and Hero of Artsakh. Streets, schools, parks, the Yerevan military academy and the Republican Stadium are named after him; numerous statues have been erected in his memory. Several polls from 2006 to 2008 by Gallup showed Sargsyan leading the list of national heroes in the public perception in Armenia.

Early life and career

Vazgen Sargsyan was born in Ararat, Soviet Armenia, near the Turkish border, on March 5, 1959 to Greta and Zaven Sargsyan. After finishing secondary school at his village, Sargsyan attended the Yerevan Institute of Physical Culture from 1976 to 1979. Sargsyan worked as a physical education teacher in a village school from 1979 to 1983, therefore serving in the Soviet army was not obligatory for him. From 1983 to 1986 he was the Young Communist League (Komsomol) leader at the Ararat Cement Factory.

An amateur writer, Sargsyan developed a literary and active social life. In 1985, he became a member of the Writers Union of Armenia. From 1986 to 1989 he headed the publicity department of the Garun («Գարուն», "Spring") literary monthly in Yerevan. Sargsyan wrote his first novel in 1980 and his first book Bread Temptation («Հացի փորձություն») was published in 1986, for which he was awarded by the Armenian Komsomol. A number of his works were published in journals, however, his literary career did not last long and ended in the late 1980s.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

File:Nagorno Karabakh secession movement 1988.jpg

Armenians demonstrate in favor of incorporation of Karabakh with Armenia, 1988

Armenian soldiers in Karabakh, early 1990s.

With the relative democratization of the Soviet regime under Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika policies in the late 1980s, nationalism arose in the ethnic republics of the Soviet Union, including in Armenia. With the rise of Armenian nationalism, Sargsyan became active in political life. He joined the popular movement for the unification of the mostly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) of Azerbaijan with Armenia. On February 20, 1988, the regional legislature requested the transfer of the region from the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan SSR to Armenian SSR, however, it was rejected by the Politburo. The tensions between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis increased with the Sumgait pogrom. Both groups armed themselves and clashes became frequent, especially in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh and the border areas of the two Soviet republic. In 1989 and 1990, Sargsyan was a commander of Armenian volunteer groups fighting near Yeraskh, on the Armenian-Azerbaijani (Nakhchivan) border, not far from his hometown. By January 1990, he was part of the leadership of the Pan-Armenian National Movement, which became the ruling party in Armenia in 1990 until 1998. Sargsyan was elected to the Armenian parliament (called Supreme Council at the time) in May 1990 election. He served as the head of the Supreme Council Commission on Defense and Internal Affairs until December 1991. On September 20, 1990, the Special Regiment was established, which became the main base of the Armenian army in the following years. It was made up of 26 platoons and a total of 2,300 men.

By 1991, almost all Armenians from Azerbaijan (between 300,000 and 400,000) and Azerbaijanis from Armenia (over 150,000) were forced to move to their respective countries as remaining in their homes became nearly impossible since tensions between the two groups have grown worse since the start of the conflict in 1988. Armenia proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union on August 23, 1991, just after the failed August Coup in Moscow. The overwhelming majority of Armenian voted for the independence in a nationwide referendum on September 21. Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the leader of the Karabakh Committee and the head of the Supreme Council since 1990, was elected president.

Active military involvement

Further information: Nagorno-Karabakh War

Due to the fact that Sargsyan was popular among Armenian volunteer units and officers, in December 1991, he was appointed the first Defense Minister of independent Armenia by President Ter-Petrosyan. On January 28, 1992, the Armenian government passed the historical decree "On the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia" which formally created the Armed Forces of Armenia. With the rise of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, in March 1992, Sargsyan announced that Armenia needed a 30,000-strong army for maintaining security. On May 8–9, 1992, the Armenian forces recorded their first major military success in Nagorno-Karabakh with the Capture of Shusha. Armenians captured the city of Lachin on May 18. It was a very significant victory for the Armenian forces since it was on the main road connecting Armenia proper with Nagorno-Karabakh.

By mid-June 1992, Ayaz Mutallibov was ousted from power and the Popular Front leader Abulfaz Elchibey replaced him as president of Azerbaijan. In summer 1992, the military equipment left by the Soviets were taken over by the Azerbaijani Army. This fact helped Azerbaijan to launch Operation Goranboy on June 12, 1992. The Armenian irregular forces retreated and lost control of northern half of Nagorno-Karabakh. The situation turned critical for the Armenian forces. In late August 1992, Nagorno-Karabakh's government found itself in a disorderly state and its members resigned on 17 August. Power was subsequently assumed by a council called the State Defense Committee and chaired by Robert Kocharyan, which stated it would temporarily govern the enclave until the conflict ended. On August 15, 1992, Vazgen Sargsyan as the Defence Minister of Armenian, called on Armenian men to gather up and form a volunteer unit to fight against the advancing Azerbaijani forces in the northern parts of Nagorno-Karabakh. He stated:

If 10-15 men from every district of Armenia come together, we can form a battalion of 500. This battalion must fight in the most dangerous areas, where the chance of survival is 50-50. Together we will go fight in the most difficult parts and we will win. Because, in reality, nothing has changed, the enemy is the same enemy, which was escaping and we are the same. It's just that we have lost the faith in our power. Now we need another attack and we must do it with the old guys to stimulate others in the army. If the day after tomorrow we will be able to establish a battalion of 500 volunteers, then we will fight and we will win."

The battalion Sargsyan called for was formed on August 30, 1992. It was named "Artsiv mahapartner" («Արծիվ մահապարտներ», literally translating to "Eagle Self-Martyrs"). Under the command of Major-General Astvatsatur Petrosyan, it defeated the Azerbaijanis around Gandzasar monastery and Chldran village in Martakert Province on August 31 and September 1, 1992. The battalion's activity is recognized to have turned the course of the war in favor of the Armenian forces.

The 1994 ceasefire ended the Nagorno-Karabakh War with the Armenian forces establishing de facto control on the disputed area

In September 1992, former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan took his position as Defence Minister, while Sargsyan was appointed the Presidential Adviser on Defence Affairs and the Presidential Envoy to Border Regions of Armenia on October 1992. He served in the position until March 1993. In March 1993, Sargsyan was appointed State Minister on Defence, Security and Internal Affairs. In the meantime, Serzh Sargsyan, a Karabakh Armenian and a former local Communist apparatchik, was appointed Minister of Defence. Vazgen and Serzh Sargsyan shared the leadership of the Armenian military until 1995 when the position of State Minister on Defence, Security and Internal Affairs was abolished. In these positions, Sargsyan had significant role in the advance of the Armenian army. He was regulating the supply of weapons to the Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Political chaos in Azerbaijan and the demoralization of the Azerbaijan army resulted in the Armenians forces taking control over the territories outside of the original Soviet-drawn borders of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1993, Sargsyan founded and led the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union. Yerkrapah included some 5,000 Nagorno-Karabakh War veterans. It had great influence in Armenia's domestic politics in the post-war years and became the main base for Vazgen Sargsyan to rise in power.

In early April 1993, the Armenian forces captured Kelbajar, causing great international attention to the conflict, because this was the first time Armenian forces captured a city outside of originally contested areas. Turkey officially closed its border with Armenia, while the UN passed resolution condemning the advancement of the Armenians. In summer of 1993, Armenian forces gained more territories and by August, Fizuli, Jebrail, and Zangelan fell to the Armenians. By early 1994, both countries were devastated by the war and on May 5, 1994 the Bishkek Protocol was signed between the heads of the parliaments of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, backed by Armenia, established de facto control of the lands. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (also known as Artsakh among Armenians) remains internationally unrecognized and de jure part of Azerbaijan. Today, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are de facto unified. Since the end of the armed conflict, Presidents and Foreign Affairs Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan regularly hold negotiations for the settlement of the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group.

Minister of Defence and president change

The Armenian Armed Forces led by Vazgen Sargsyan significantly influenced the outcome of four elections from 1995 to 1999.

Vazgen Sargsyan was appointed Minister of Defence by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan on July 26, 1995, during the restructuring of government ministries. He remained in that position for almost four years until 1999. In these various capacities he laid the groundwork for building Armenia's armed forces. In April 1997, Sargsyan stated that Armenia's military power was doubled in the past two years. The Armenian army was highly regarded and described as the only former Soviet state that "managed to build a combat-capable army from scratch" and was "comparable in efficiency to the Soviet Army." According to Thomas de Waal, the army was the "the most powerful institution" in Armenia.

Sargsyan's reign as a Minister of Defence marked with cooperation with Russia and Greece intended to balance the influence of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the region. Sargsyan had "close connections" with the Russian military elite and according to the Jamestown Foundation, he pursued a military diplomacy with Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Iran and Bulgaria for a pro-Russian alliance in the region. In summer 1997, three years after the ceasefire, in response to Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev's statements that Azerbaijan is "ready to solve the Karabakh problem by force", Sargsyan replied "Let him do it. We are ready." In March 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan warned that Azerbaijan may attack at any time and that Armenians "must be ready for any development." He also claimed that in case another war starts, the Armenians army "will make more serious [territorial] gains."

By the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, President Ter-Petrosyan had lost the overwhelming popular support he had earlier, because of the high-level corruption and the deep economic crisis in Armenia. Ter-Petrosyan banned the major opposition party Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) in December 1994. Over 30 leading ARF members were arrested and charged of terrorism and forcible overthrow of the government. The trial was condemned by the international community. The majority of Armenians believed the banning of the ARF was a "political game" while Richard Giragosian described it as "show trials". Ter-Petrosyan administration also oppressed the press .

In order to continue his reign as president, Ter-Petrosyan was highly dependent on the "power structures", which included the Ministries of Defence (headed by Vazgen Sargsyan), Interior (Vano Siradeghyan) and National Security (Serzh Sargsyan). Vazgen Sargsyan was a key figure in post-war Armenia due to the fact that he was indisputably supported by the army, the only well-established institution in Armenia. Sargsyan was an éminence grise of the Armenian politics, deciding many personnel appointments and dismissals.

1995–1996 elections

Both the 1995 parliamentary election and the 1995 constitutional referendum were held on July 5, 1995 and were marred with major electoral violations. The OSCE observers described the parliamentary election as "free but not fair." Vazgen Sargsyan helped the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) win the election and pass the constitutional reforms. The 1995 constitution gave the president more powers on appointing and dismissing key judicial and legislative officials.

Vazgen Manukyan led the movement against Levon Ter-Petrosyan's regime in 1996.

The 1996 presidential election was the second presidential election in post-Soviet Armenia. On September 18, 1996, few days before the election, Vazgen Sargsyan stated that he is "satisfied with the situation." Addressing Ter-Petrosyan's supporters, he stated that Armenia "will enter the 21st century victoriously and stable with Ter-Petrosyan." In an opinion poll, 28.6% of Armenians said they had "irritation and antipathy" for Vazgen Sargsyan's speeches. According to the Caucasian Regional Studies, during the election campaign Vazgen Sargsyan and Vano Siradeghyan "turned off the voters" from Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Most opposition parties consolidated around former Karabakh Committee member and former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan. The election was held on September 22, 1996, the day after the fifth anniversary of the independence of Armenia. Both Ter-Petrosyan and Manukyan claimed victory. Official results by the Central Electoral Commission recorded Ter-Petrosyan's victory in the first round with just above 50% of the total vote in his favor. The observation and monitoring organizations were mostly critical of the conduct of the election. The OSCE observation mission found "serious violations of the election law."

Vazgen Manukyan, the main opposition candidate, officially received 41% of the vote. Denouncing the results, he started demonstrations the next day, claiming electoral fraud by Ter-Petrosyan's supporters. An estimated 200,000 people gathered in Yerevan's Freedom Square to protest the election results. On September 25, 150,000 to 200,000 people gathered in the same square. Manukyan led the demonstrators to the parliament building on Baghramyan Avenue, where the Electoral Commission was located the time. Later during the day, the protesters broke the fence surrounding the parliament and got into the building. They beat up the parliament speaker Babken Ararktsyan and vice-speaker Ara Sahakyan. The security forces were brought into Yerevan to restore order. On the same day, Vazgen Sargsyan stated that "even if they [the opposition] win 100 percent of the votes, neither the Army nor the National Security and Interior Ministry would recognize such political leaders." Sargsyan was later criticized by the West for this statement. Vazgen Sargsyan and Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan announced on the Public Television of Armenia that their respective agencies have prevented an attempted coup d'état. The government sent tanks and troops to Yerevan to enforce the ban on rallies and demonstrations on September 26. Manukyan's appealed to the Constitutional Court with the request for a new election was rejected.

Shifts in the government

A few years after the election, former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghyan claimed in an interview that Ter-Petrosyan fell into a three-month depression and that he wanted both Vazgen Sargsyan and himself to resign. According to him "the whole state apparatus was demoralized, paralyzed and no government was formed during [the ensuing] three months." Despite these claims, in February 1997 Ter-Petrosyan denied the rumors of the resignation of Vazgen Sargsyan. From 1994 until his resignation in February 1998, Ter-Petrosyan was criticized for his alleged authoritarian rule. History Professor Stephan H. Astourian of the University of California, Berkeley suggests that after crushing popular protest by "military force, legal recourse had been perverted, and a president had been elected fraudulently." Astourian claims that the elections "tarnished Ter-Petrosian’s image, but the West did not dwell on the problem." as "a weak president has his uses." The West increased the pressure on the non-democratically elected president on the Karabakh issue. Astourian believes that "even more than his image in the West, it was the president’s own self-image, his “ego ideal,” that was tarnished."

After the forcible crackdown of the opposition in late 1996, President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's dependence on the "power ministries", including Sargsyan's Defence Ministry. In late 1996, the Ministries of National Security and Interior were merged and Serzh Sargsyan was appointed minister. Vano Siradeghyan, Ter-Petrosyan's closest ally, who was the Interior Minister, became the Mayor of Yerevan. This event is seen as one of the main "mistakes" of Ter-Petrosyan.

Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan's cabinet resigned in early November 1996. Armen Sargsyan, the former Armenian ambassador to the UK, was appointed Prime Minister by Ter-Petrosyan on November 4, 1996, although he resigned in March 1997 due to sickness. Ter-Petrosyan appointed the President of the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as Prime Minister of Armenia on March 20, 1997. Experts argue that Ter-Petrosyan needed Kocharyan's support (as a high representative of the Karabakh Armenians) to compromise with Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. From the beginning, Kocharyan had very close relations with the National Security & Interior Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who was also from Karabakh. However, he "lacked the local ties and clan connections native politicians had nurtured."

Elite split

The first significant collision inside the ruling Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) of Ter-Petrosyan, came into view in June 1997, when the parliament was discussing the army draft deferment for students from ages 18 to 27. Vazgen Sargsyan as the Defence Minister at the time insisted on abolishing deferment for students, arguing that the Armenian army "needs intellect." The parliament speaker Babken Ararktsyan, a close ally of Ter-Petrosyan, stood against passing such law. Dr. Astourian argues that the "crisis was important not so much because of what was at stake, but because it revealed the power of the defense ministry, disclosed a specific conflict of interest between the army and the nouveaux riches associated with the PANM, exposed a fault line between two close allies of the president, and brought to light the latter’s inability to manage these conflicts behind the scene before they became public." Some members of the Pan-Armenian National Movement were calling on for a vote of no confidence to Kocharyan's cabinet to sack the so-called "Karabakh clan" (i.e. Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan). This conflict within the Armenian government more deepened the internal crisis, which eventually led to Ter-Petrosyan's resignation.

"By calling for major concessions on Karabakh, Ter-Petrossian was antagonizing the last forces that supported his rule, the army and the Karabakh elite, at a time when his popularity within the Armenian society was at its lowest."

 —Vicken Cheterian

In 1997, Russia, United States and France (i.e. the OSCE Minsk Group members) put more pressure on Armenia and Azerbaijan to agree on the issue and final status of Karabakh. The key elements of the "step-by-step" proposal of the OSCE Minsk Group agreed by Ter-Petrosyan and Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev were Karabakh's final status, the return of the occupied territories, including the Lachin corridor, and the return of refugees. President Ter-Petrosyan claimed the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and therefore the opening of the border with Turkey was the only way to significantly improve Armenia's economy. On September 26, 1997, in his first press conference in five years, Ter-Petrosyan announced that he supports the "step-by-step" settlement plan of OSCE.

After the plan was publicized, President Ter-Petrosyan came across great opposition. The issue was "important to the Armenians because of historical and psychological factors. After having been losing territories for centuries, the Armenians are reluctant to "lose" Karabakh now that they have won a war against Azerbaijan." The plan was denounced by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic leadership (President Arkadi Ghukasyan and Defence Minister Samvel Babayan) Vazgen Sargsyan, as the head of the Defence Ministry and Yerkrapah, also denounced the plan. The two notable Karabakh Armenians in the government Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan and Interior & National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan, the Armenian intelligentsia and the diaspora, the opposition also expressed their opposition to the president’'s support for the proposed settlement plan.

Vazgen Sargsyan, Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan argued that "Armenia should try to improve its economic performance", while Ter-Petrosyan insisted that Armenia "could only achieve marginal improvements insufficient to address the fear of relative decline and economic exclusion, his opponents thought the potential improvements would be sufficient to address these fears." The Kocharyan cabinet, where Vazgen Sargsyan was a leading figure, called for a "package" deal. On October 21, 1997, ten members of the Republic bloc in the parliament left the fraction and shifted their support to Vazgen Sargsyan. Ter-Petrosyan's bloc in the parliament now had only a majority of 2 seats in the National Assembly. Despite the great public and political opposition, the Pan-Armenian National Movement voted in favor of Ter-Petrosyan's foreign policy.

'Velvet coup': Ter-Petrosyan's resignation

Vazgen Sargsyan and other "hard-liners" forced President Levon Ter-Petrosyan to resign in 1998.

The crisis in the Armenian political elite gained significant attention after the National Security Council meeting on January 7–8, 1998. Ter-Petrosyan didn't have enough support to continue his reign as president and thus to agree on the OSCE settlement plan with Azerbaijan over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. He was supported by the Mayor of Yerevan and formerly extremely influential Minister of Interior Vano Siradeghyan and the National Assembly speaker Babken Ararktsyan. The so-called "power ministries"—Defence and National Security & Interior—led by Vazgen Sargsyan and Serzh Sargsyan respectively, accompanied by the Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan (the last two being originally from Karabakh) stood against Ter-Petrosyan's stance on Karabakh settlement issue. These three politicians were referred to as "hard liners" in the Western media for their "nationalist" position.

On January 23, 1998, during the peak of the elite crisis, Vazgen Sargsyan rejected the rumors about Robert Kocharyan's possible resignation because of the disagreements with Ter-Petrosyan. Sargsyan openly stated his support for Kocharyan and called his resignation "impossible". Earlier in January, three attacks have taken place on senior officials, such as the attack on the Deputy Interior Minister Major-General Artsrun Markaryan, in which he was injured. Sargsyan blamed the Pan-Armenian National Movement. He claimed the PANM is trying to destabilize the situation in Armenia and stated that Ter-Petrosyan's supporters want to use the attacks as pretext for Kocharyan's resignation. Sargsyan also guaranteed that the Armenian army "will not intervene in the political struggle."

President Levon Ter-Petrosyan announced his resignation on February 3, 1998. According to Michael P. Croissant it was Vazgen Sargsyan who "played ultimately the principal role in inducting the president's resignation." Croissant writes that "ironically, it was Sargsyan who had saved the Ter-Petrosyan regime with the dispatch of troops to Yerevan following the disputed presidential elections of September 1996, but the Armenia leader's support for concessions in the Karabakh peace process cost him Sargsyan's support." In his resignation statement, Ter-Petrosyan referred to the Vazgen Sargsyan-Robert Kocharyan-Serzh Sargsyan trio as "the well known body of power." He then continued with stating that "bearing in mind that fulfillment of president's constitutional authorities during the prevailing circumstances is equal with the risk of destabilizing the country, I have chosen to hand in my resignation." According to Stepan Astourian, Ter-Petrosyan's was seen as a moderate in the West and was his resignation "was seen as a blow to Western hopes of settling the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan." Ter-Petrosyan's resignation was followed by the resignation of National Assembly speaker Babken Ararktsyan, his two deputies, Mayor of Yerevan Vano Siradeghyan, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Arzoumanian and others. A significant change occurred in the National Assembly. Dozens of members of the parliamentary fraction named Republican Bloc (mostly made up of Ter-Petrosyan's Pan-Armenian National Movement) joined Vazgen Sargsyan's Yerkrapah bloc, making it the largest parliamentary bloc with 69 members compared to only fifty-six for the Republic.

After Ter-Petrosyan's resignation Prime Minister Robert Kocharian became acting President. The Armenian constitution puts the Prime Minister behind the National Assembly Speaker, but as Babken Ararktsyan had also resigned Kocharyan was next in the line of succession. Radio Free Europe reported that the "immediate result put more hardline politicians in full control of the country." On February 5, 1998, Vazgen Sargsyan denied the claims of a coup d'état and said that Ter-Petrosyan's resignation is "rather sad but natural." Sargsyan claimed that the president's move surprised him and that he has "been seeking common grounds with the president for the past three months. The only step I achieved on the Karabakh issue was the suggestion that the situation be frozen." Vazgen Sargsyan also called for fair elections. On January 29, 1999, almost a year after Ter-Petrosyan's resignation, Vazgen Sargsyan stated at the Republican Party convention that he "respects and appreciates" Levon Ter-Petrosyan and described him as a "wisdom and a moral man and politician." Sargsyan insisted that the question of political responsibility was the main reason of Ter-Petrosyan's resignation.

1998 election: Kocharyan as president

With the support of Vazgen Sargsyan, Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan was elected president in 1998.

See also: Armenian presidential election, 1998

The first round of the snap presidential election was held on March 16, 1998. None of the candidates was able to win the majority of the votes. Prime Minister and Acting President Robert Kocharyan eared 38.5% of the vote, Karen Demirchyan, the leader of Soviet Armenia from 1974 to 1988 gained 30.5%, Vazgen Manukyan, the oppositional candidate in the 1996 election had 12.2% and Communist party leader Sergey Badalyan 10.9%. Demirchyan, who came in second, had been absent from the politics for 10 years and had been in business. His comeback was a surprise and "was meant to reflect the Armenian public's desire to return to the certainties of the past and distaste for mafia capitalism personified by Ter-Petrossian's rule." Demirchyan was very popular among the Armenian public. He was preferable for the West since he had more moderate approach to the Karabakh conflict settlement. A poll quoted by Western diplomats, showed that Demirchyan had the support of the 53% of Armenians, while Kocharyan was favored by only 36%.

The second round of the election was held on March 30 between Kocharyan and Demirchyan. Kocharyan won with 58.9% of the vote. The final results showed Demirchyan having only 40.1% of the vote. The British Helsinki Human Rights Group claimed that "ordinary Armenians turned to Robert Kocharian as someone untainted by mafia connections and the intrigues of Yerevan politics." The OSCE observation mission described the first round as "deeply flawed", while their final report stated that the mission found "serious flaws" and that the election did not meet the OSCE standards. Although Demirchyan didn't officially dispute the election results, he never accepted it and did not congratulate Kocharyan.

Vazgen Sargsyan (along with Interior Minister Serzh Sargsyan) openly supported Kocharyan and used his influence for his election. He called Kocharyan a "man of unity of word and action" and stated that his experience in Karabakh and Armenia "shows that he is capable of solving economic problems also." Sargsyan criticized Demirchyan for not having moral right to become president by saying "Robert Kocharian is one of the leaders of the struggle of the Armenian people and understands the strategy of war and peace and possible compromise. Karen Demirchian has not even a slightest idea of all this." After the election, however, Sargsyan suggested Kocharyan to appoint Demirchyan Prime Minister to decrease the tensions in the Armenian political scene. Even after becoming president, Kocharyan didn't have much institutional support (such as a party, control the army or source of money) and remained "in a fundamental sense an outsider in Yerevan."

Kocharyan as the President of Armenia had more tough position on the Karabakh settlement issue than Ter-Petrosyan. He also urged the international community to recognize the Armenian Genocide, something his predecessor did not give importance. In response, Turkey and Azerbaijan tightened their cooperation in isolating Armenia from regional projects. Kocharyan, who as the Prime Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994 and the President of NKR from 1994 to 1997, did not put pressure on the Nagorno-Karabakh leadership to concede territory to Azerbaijan. Kocharyan was supported by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which was banned during Ter-Petrosyan's second term. The ARF was allowed to actively operate after Ter-Petrosyan's resignation a month before the election.

Rise in power

"From the very beginning there was a wrong impression that Yerkrapah can do nothing–but fight, however—time has shown that Yerkrapah can not only perform feats on battlefields—but also have a say in peaceful development."

 —Vazgen Sargsyan, May 1999

Politicization of Yerkrapah

In October 1997, after Ter-Petrosyan agreed with the OSCE settlement plan on Nagorno-Karabakh, dozens of members (mostly war veterans) of the "Republic" fraction in the Armenian parliament created the Yerkrapah fraction as a sign of disagreement. After Ter-Petrosyan's resignation in February 1998, Yerkrapah became the largest group in the National Assembly of Armenia. It was loyal to their former commander Vazgen Sargsyan, making him "the power behind the throne."

By May 1998, just a couple of months after Kocharyan's election as president, it was clear that Vazgen Sargsyan was preparing for the next year's parliamentary election. Albert Bazeyan, the formal leader of Yerkrapah, pronounced on May 7, 1998, that the union will become a political party. Yerkrapah was merged with the Republican Party of Armenia in June–July 1998, taking the party's name and its legal status. The Republican Party was a small nationalist party established in 1990 by Ashot Navasardyan and its ideology was similar to that of Yerkrapah.

The relations between Vazgen Sargsyan and President Kocharyan were not as smooth as before the presidential election. The British Helsinki Human Rights Group said that "it seems that within a very short time after that election the Defence Minister (who promoted Kocharyan's candidacy) was casting around for partners unconnected with or down-right opposed to the president." On August 6, 1998, Henrikh Khachatryan, the Prosecutor-General of Armenia, a close friend of Kocharyan was murdered in his office "in murky circumstances." Few months later, in December 1998, Vahram Khorkhoruni, the Deputy Minister of Defence, was murdered "for equally mysterious motives." On February 9, 1999, Artsrun Margaryan, the Deputy Minister of Interior, was murdered. These murders spread rumors in Armenia that relations between Sargsyan and Kocharyan were "not normal." Vazgen Sargsyan and Serzh Sargsyan, Kocharyan's close ally and the National Security & Interior Minister were "also perceived to be at odds."

The Republican Party held its first convention after the merger with Yerkrapah on January 29, 1999. Sargsyan stated at the convention that he does not wish to president, National Assembly Speaker or Prime Minister. Sargsyan said: "I want to remain in the position of the Minister of Defence. I think that the army is the base of the stability and safety of the Republic of Armenia. I think that there is no Republic of Armenia without the army, the economy can't develop without the army and vice versa. I consider myself a good Defence Minister. I think that there is too much work I have to do in this system. At least 2-3 years are needed to get this enormous amount of work done, which I can do." Though Sargsyan was not elected chairman of the Republican Party, he was considered to be its unofficial leader.

Alliance with Demirchyan

It was initially announced that the Republican Party, now unofficially led by Sargsyan, would go to the parliamentary election alone. Andranik Margaryan, the Republican Party chairman, stated in February 1999 that the party will seek "qualitative majority" in the National Assembly and that their goal was the fairness of the electoral process. In late December 1998, opposition newspaper Iravunk suggested that Vazgen Sargsyan was distancing himself and the Republican Party from Kocharyan and possibly going to form an alliance with Karen Demirchyan and his People's Party.

Karen Demirchyan (left) and Vazgen Sargsyan (right) during the election campaign of the Unity bloc in May 1999.

Surprisingly for many, on March 30, 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan and the runner-up of the 1998 presidential election and Armenia's former Soviet leader Karen Demirchyan issued a joint announcement, forming an alliance between the People's Party of Armenia and the Republican Party. It came to be known as the Unity bloc («Միասնություն» դաշինք), often referred to as Miasnutyun. Vazgen Sargsyan claimed the bloc was a "genuine" alliance and that the two parties had come together to lead Armenia "from a turning point to progress." Besides Sargsyan and Demirchyan, the Unity bloc had over 140 candidates, including Fadey Sargsyan, the President of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Andranik Margaryan, Albert Bazeyan, Hmayak Hovhannisyan, Tigran Torosyan, Armen Khachatryan, Ruben Miroyan, Yuri Bakhshyan and others. In the 1999 election report the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe wrote that Sargsyan "obviously concluded it was better to have the popular Demirchyan as an ally than an opponent" and that "in forming Unity bloc, Sargsyan and Demirchyan overcame whatever ideological differences they may have had and said they had joined forces to overcome the difficult problems facing Armenia while promoting tolerance in the country’'s political life." In Richard Giragosian's words the bloc was "an odd mix", while sociologist Levon Baghdasaryan described it as "unification of the new and old nomenklaturas." The British Helsinki Human Rights Group claimed the Unity bloc "aimed to appeal to the electorate by being all things to all men."

1999 parliamentary election

See also: Armenian parliamentary election, 1999

The campaign for the parliamentary election started on May 6, 1999. During the election campaign, Sargsyan pledged that he will spare no effort to make sure the elections are free and fair saying that he wants "the elections to be free and kind." Sargsyan and Demirchyan put the emphasis of their campaign on the economy and the improvement of the life of ordinary Armenians. Demirchyan claimed that he joined Sargsyan, because that was the only way of solving Armenia's economic problems. Talking about Yerkrapah (now politically transformed into the Republican Party), Sargsyan said he was confident "that the people that gained victory on the battlefield will also gain victory in economy." He then expressed his optimism saying that they are sure that they "will jointly change something and find the right course." When asked about the reasons why he joined Demirchyan, Sargsyan announced that "there is no other way out." The Unity bloc "called broadly for a democratic society, rule of law, economic reforms and a market economy, with the state also creating conditions for the normal functioning of state enterprises and ensuring decent living standards for all." According to the CSCE the bloc did not have specific solution for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and "advocated Armenia'’s integration into the international community and the establishment of normal relations with all countries."

Throughout the campaign, the Unity bloc was considered the favorite of the election. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) claimed that Sargsyan and Demirchyan as individuals formed the strength of the Unity bloc. The same opinion was shared by the Los Angeles-based ARF-aligned Armenian newspaper Asbarez the strength of the Unity bloc was constituted in the fact that the Republican party had effective control of the local governments and Demirchyan enjoyed highly popularity among the public. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights claimed the "alliance was not only created for electoral purposes, but that a strategic political agreement had been reached while overcoming ideological differences." According to Richard Giragosian, the bloc "effectively marginalized the electoral threat" of the other parties. Opposition newspaper Hayots ashkhar suggested that most other political parties in Armenia were gravitating towards the opposite pole, around Kocharyan, National Security & Interior Minister Serzh Sargsyan, and the leadership of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The parliamentary election took place on May 30, 1999, just two months after Sargsyan and Demirchyan announcement about their decision to form an alliance. In total, 131 seats were contested to the National Assembly—75 seats by single-member districts (constituencies) by first-past-the-post voting and 56 by party-list proportional representation. According to the final results of the Central Electoral Commission, almost 1,150,000 votes were cast recording about 55% turnout. The Unity bloc won over 41.5% of the popular vote (448,133 votes). A number of Unity bloc candidates won seats in single-member constituencies. The total number of seats won by the bloc was 62 seats. The alliance established effective majority with cooperating with a group of 25 independent and officially non-affiliated members of the parliament, sympathetic to the Sargsyan-Demirchyan coalition. Five other parties passed the 5% threshold: the Communists led by Sergey Badalyan, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Kocharyan's "most reliable supporters"), Rule of Law supported by Serzh Sargsyan, Right and Unity bloc led by Artashes Geghamyan, supported by General Samvel Babayan and the National Democratic Union of Vazgen Manukyan.

The electoral process was generally said to have been in relative improvement since 1995, 1996 and 1998 elections. The final report of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights described the election "a step towards compliance with OSCE Commitments" and claimed that along with improvements to the electoral framework and the political environment, serious issues remained. The Council of Europe also suggested "considerable improvement" from the past elections. The National Democratic Institute report was more critical, saying it "failed to meet international standards" and that it proved to be the continuation of the flawed 1995 parliamentary elections, differing only in "the methods and types of manipulation."

Prime Ministry

On June 5, 1999, Kocharyan announced the two co-chairmen of the Unity bloc should decide which one of them is going to take the positions of Prime Minister and National Assembly Speaker. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty wrote on June 7 that a "source within" the Unity bloc told the agency that Sargsyan wanted to combine the positions of Defence Minister and Prime Minister, however, this was impossible by the Armenian constitution. Vazgen Sargsyan became Prime Minister of Armenia on June 11, 1999. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe suggested that Sargsyan "now has the chance to prove he can govern a country, manage budgets and resolve the difficult strategic problems facing Armenia" and if failed, "he will be blamed." The other Unity bloc co-chairman Karen Demirchyan was elected speaker of the National Assembly on June 10 with 110 of 131 its members voting in favor. Albert Bazeyan and Ruben Miroyan were elected his deputies. Yuri Bakhshyan replaced Bazeyan in September 1999, after Bazeyan was named Mayor of Yerevan.

Many experts suggest that Vazgen Sargsyan, as Prime Minister, was the most powerful politician in Armenia and that his "activities had began to overshadow" Kocharyan. Margaret Kaeter suggests that the Sargsyan-Demirchyan alliance "ultimately would bring about the resignation of Kocharian." The same viewpoint was expressed by investigative journalist Edik Baghdasaryan. The British Helsinki Human Rights Group wrote in their 1999 report that "even though Kocharian formally welcomed the formation of the bloc, rumours circulated that the president was being side-lined and that he would eventually be ousted from power – or, at best, to quote Vazgen Manoukian, he would end up like the "Queen of England"." The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe claimed Kocharyan has been "effectively weakened" and was now more dependent on Vazgen Sargsyan for "working majority in parliament and indeed for government adherence to presidential policies". Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia: 2003 book claimed that Kocharyan "appeared increasingly weak and isolated" with Vazgen Sargsyan winning the race for the "control of political and economic resources." Also, despite no longer being the Minister of Defence, Vazgen Sargsyan remained the de facto leader of the army.

On June 15, 1999 President Kocharyan appointed the new cabinet, mostly made up of experienced state officials. Vagharshak Harutiunyan, the representative of the Armenian Armed Forces at the Commonwealth of Independent States, came to replace Vazgen Sargsyan as Defence Minister. Kocharyan stressed that the army has a "serious examination" to pass with the Defence Minister change. The former Prime Minister Armen Darbinyan took up the position of the Minister of Economy, while Khosrov Harutyunyan, the Prime Minister from 1992 to 1993, was appointed Minister of Territorial Administration. The Ministry of Interior & National Security was split, after which Serzh Sargsyan, Kocharyan's close ally, became the Minister of National Security. The former deputy minister Suren Abrahamyan became the Minister of Internal Affairs. Leonard Petrosyan, the former President and Prime Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, was appointed Minister for Emergency Situations. Foreign Affairs Minister Vartan Oskanian and Transportation Minister Yervand Zakharyan retained their positions. Interestingly, only four members of the Sargsyan cabinet were partisan.

"Today the economic development of Armenia is as important as victory in the war was yesterday. Our battle has moved from the field of blood and heroism, to the economic field."

 —Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenia-Diaspora Conference, September 23, 1999

Economic policy

At the time of Vazgen Sargsyan's Prime Ministry, the vast majority of Armenians has not yet recovered from the economic effects of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the energetic crisis Armenia saw during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The poverty rate stood at around 80% according to the Human Development Report. Many ordinary Armenians relied on the financial support from abroad, especially Russia. The mass emigration from Armenia that started at the period of the decline of the Soviet regime, remained a major issue during Vazgen Sargsyan's Prime Ministry. Sargsyan stated that the "phenomenon is tragic", however, he emphasized that its unnecessary to make it "out to be more tragic does greater harm." In October 1999, he claimed the "outflow of the population is not of a mass character". Sargsyan said he saw the solution in both socio-economic and "ideological and moral" means. The World Socialist Web Site held international creditors responsible for Armenia's economic hardships. They claimed such organization "don't leave much room for manoeuvre for the Armenian government to shape its policies more strongly according to the economic and social needs of the majority of the population." The 1998 Russian financial crisis worsened the situation, and showed a decline in human development.

On June 18, 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan, in his first address to the parliament as Prime Minister described Armenia's economic situation as "“grave." In fact, the budget revenues were almost 20% lower than the government has planned, because of the low level of tax collection and the high level of corruption in the Armenian economy. Although Sargsyan criticized the post-Soviet privatization by the Ter-Petrosyan government, he admitted Armenia had no alternative and that his government has enormous amount of job to do. In his speech on July 28, Sargsyan described the economic situation in Armenia as "extremely difficult but not hopeless." According to him, the first half of 1999 saw $61 million less in the budged revenues than planned by the Darbinyan government. He stated that tax evasion played a role in the budget deficit. Despite being criticized by the opposition, especially the National Democratic Union, the Unity bloc voted in favor (96 of the 131 MPs) of the austerity measures of the Sargsyan cabinet on August 28, allowing Armenia to take loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The World Bank alone had landed almost $0.5 billion to Armenia since 1992 to finance the budget deficits. The Sargsyan cabinet wanted to diversify $32 million in the budget funds in order to be able to repay the internal debts. For this purpose, the excise tax was raised on cigarettes by 200% and on gasoline by 45%, seriously hitting the middle class. Sargsyan described these as "painful but right steps" for getting the necessary amount of money from the foreign lenders. He pledged a "tougher crackdown on the shadow economy and more efficient governance." National Assembly Speaker Karen Demirchyan called for a greater role of the state in the economy to ensure stability. President Robert Kocharyan was relatively uninvolved in these developments.

On July 21, 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan visited Russia for the first time as Prime Minister. He met with Sergei Stepashin with whom he discusses the economic cooperation between Armenia and Russia. Sargsyan described their relations as "strategic". He also met with Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov, Head of General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin, Duma Lower House Deputy Speaker Artur Chilingarov, Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov, and Rem Viakhirev, the chairman of Gazprom for gas-transit issues. On October 7, 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan, along with his Defence Minister Vagharshak Harutiunyan and Head of the Government Staff Shahen Karamanukyuan, participated in the meeting of the CIS Heads of Government in Yalta, Ukraine. The Prime Ministers discussed the reforms of the organization, which introduced changes to the economic activities within and outside of the CIS member states. Sargsyan also met with State Minister of Georgia Vazha Lortkipanidze and Ukrainian Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko.

Notable events

Three major events occurred during Vazgen Sargsyan's Prime Ministry. Sargsyan, as Prime Minister, played a significant role in the organization of these events. On August 28, the first Pan-Armenian Games started in Yerevan. Over 1,400 ethnic Armenian athletes from 23 countries participated in the games. The closing ceremony took place in the Yerevan Sports and Concerts Complex on September 5 with the attendance of President Robert Kocharyan and Vazgen Sargsyan. Just after this major sports event involving thousands of diaspora Armenian youth, the preparations for the 8th anniversary of Armenia's independence started. On September 21, 1999, the day when in 1991 Armenians voted in favor of leaving the Soviet Union in a referendum, a military parade was held in Yerevan's Republic Square. Vazgen Sargsyan, who was the head of the Armenian armed forces for four years "was visibly the most excited of the government leaders standing on a specially built pedestal." In a short briefing after the parade Sargsyan enthusiastically stated that he has "touched almost every piece of hardware you've just seen" and continued that he "just wanted to show it" to the Armenian people.

During the next two day, on September 22 and 23, 1999, the first Armenia-Diaspora Conference was held in Yerevan. The conference brought together the Armenian political elite and many diaspora organizations, political parties, religious leaders, writers and over 1,200 representatives of Armenian communities from 53 countries, an unprecedented number. Vazgen Sargsyan opened the second day of the conference with his speech-report about the economic and social situation in Armenia. The conference was closed by Sargsyan.

Assassination

The building of the National Assembly of Armenia

Shooting and funeral

See also: Armenian parliament shooting

On October 27, 1999 at around 5:15 p.m., five men led by journalist and a former ARF member Nairi Hunanyan, armed with Kalashnikov rifles (hidden under long coats), broke into the National Assembly building on Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan, while the government was holding a question-and-answer session. They shot dead Vazgen Sargsyan, National Assembly Speaker Karen Demirchyan, Deputy National Assembly Speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, Minister of Urgent Affairs Leonard Petrosyan, Parliament Members Henrik Abrahamyan, Armenak Armenakyan and Mikayel Kotanyan. The gunmen injured at least 30 people in the parliament. Sargsyan's speech at the parliament was aired on the Public Radio of Armenia, but was stopped when the first shots were heard.

Hunanyan was accompanied by his brother Karen and uncle Vram and two others. The group claimed they were carrying out a coup d'état. They described their act "patriotic", "needed for the nation to regain its senses." They said they wanted to "punish the authorities for what they do to the nation" and described the government as profiteers "drinking the blood of the people." They claimed Armenia was in a "catastrophic situation" and that "corrupt officials" were not doing anything for the way out. Vazgen Sargsyan was the main target of the group and the other deaths were said to be unintended. According to reporters who witnessed the shooting, the men went up to Sargsyan and said "Enough of drinking our blood", to which Sargsyan calmly responded "Everything is being done for you and the future of your children." Vazgen Sargsyan was hit several times and Anna Israelyan, an eyewitness journalist, stated that "the first shots were fired directly at Vazgen Sargsyan at a distance of 1 to 2 meters" and in her words "it was impossible that he would have survived." Gagik Saratikyan, a cameraman, was the first person from outside to be allowed to go into the building while the men were in control of it. Saratikyan recorded dead bodies of Vazgen Sargsyan and Karen Demirchyan. Sargsyan's body was taken out of the parliament building on the evening of October 27.

Soon after the attack, hundreds of policeman and the army forces personnel and 2 armored personnel carriers were brought into Yerevan and were positioned on Baghramyan Avenue, surrounding the National Assembly building. An anti-terrorist squad from Russia was also participating in the operation. Meanwhile, ambulance vehicles rushed to the place of the shooting. President Robert Kocharyan was directing the operation of the security forces around the parliament building. While holding around 50 hostages inside the parliament building, the men demanded a helicopter and airtime on the national television for a political statement.

President Robert Kocharyan gave a speech on TV announcing that the situation was under control. His spokesman Vahe Gabrielyan was quick to characterize the men as "individual terrorists" and assuring that "It's only the parliament building and a very small group." After negotiations with President Robert Kocharyan overnight, they released the hostages and gave themselves up in the morning of October 28, 1999 after a standoff that lasted 17–18 hours. Kocharyan had guaranteed the personal security of the gunmen and the right to a free trial. In the meantime, the Armenian armed forces blocked the roads leading to Yerevan for security reasons.

On October 28, 1999, President Kocharyan declared three-day mourning period. The state funeral ceremony for the victims of the parliament shooting took place from October 30 to October 31, 1999. The bodies of the victims, including Vazgen Sargsyan, were placed inside the Yerevan Opera Theater. A number of high-ranking officials from around 30 countries, including the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, attended the funeral. Karekin II, the Catholicos of all Armenians and Aram I, the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia gave prayers.

Investigation and conspiracy theories

The five men were charged with terrorism aimed at undermining authority on October 29, 1999. The investigation ended and the case was sent to court on July 12, 2000. The investigation was lead by Gagik Jhangiryan, the Chief Military Prosecutor of Armenia, who claimed his team was looking for the masterminds of the shooting even after the trial had began. According to Jhangiryan, the investigating team considered more than a dozen theories. By January 2000, Jhangiryan's investigators considered the connection of Kocharyan and his circle to the parliament shooting. Several figures close to Kocharyan were arrested at the time, including Aleksan Harutiunyan, the Deputy Presidential Adviser, and Harutiun Harutiunyan, the Deputy Director of the Public Television of Armenia, but by summer of that year they were released. Eventually, Jhangiryan failed to find evidence linking Kocharyan to the shooting. The trial began on February 15, 2001 in Yerevan's Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court. The judicial case was transferred to the jurisdiction of Aghvan Hovsepyan, the Prosecutor General, and his office, which finally closed the case for lack of evidence. The five main perpetrators of the shooting (Nairi Hunanyan, his younger brother Karen Hunanyan, their uncle Vram Galstyan, Derenik Ejanyan and Eduard Grigoryan) were sentenced to life in prison on December 2, 2003.

Armenia's current president Serzh Sargsyan was the National Security Minister at the time of the shooting.

The motive behind the attack has not yet been fully explained giving birth to a number of conspiracy theories. Stepan Demirchyan, Karen Demirchyan's son stated in 2009 that "nothing was done by the authorities to prevent that crime and, conversely, everything was done to cover up the crime." In March 2013, Vazgen Sargsyan's younger brother Aram Sargsyan stated that he has many questions to both governments of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. He claimed the judicial process of October 27 "deepened the public distrust in the authorities" as "many questions remain unanswered today" According to Aram Sargsyan, the disclosure of the shooting is "vital" for Armenia. Sargsyan at conclusion insisted that he "never accused this or the former authorities in being responsible for October 27. I have accused them in not fully disclosing the October 27 event." In an interview in April 2013, Rita Demirchyan, the widow of Karen Demirchyan, suggested that the shooting was commanded from outside of Armenia and that it was not an attempt of a coup, but rather an assassination.

Although the investigation did not find and considerable evidence linking Kocharyan to the Hunanyan group, many Armenian politicians and analysts believe that President Robert Kocharyan and National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan were behind the assassination of Vazgen Sargsyan and other leading politicians. Albert Bazeyan stated in 2002 that "We have come to the conclusion that the crime was aimed at making Robert Kocharian's power unlimited and uncontrolled. By physically eliminating Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen Sargsyan, its organizers wanted to create prerequisites for Kocharyan's victory in the future presidential elections." Armenia's first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan has many times accused Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan and their "criminal-oligarchic" system in being the real perpetrators of the parliament shooting.

Nairi Hunanyan, the leader of the armed group, was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). According to the ARF, Hunanyan was expelled from the party in 1992 for misconduct and had not been in any association with the ARF since then. Some speculations have been made about the involvement of the ARF in the shootings. Ashot Manucharyan stated in 2000 that he is much worried about the circumstance that "a number of Dashnaktsutyun party leaders are acting in the interest of the American foreign policy."

Alleged foreign involvement

Some analysts have suggested that foreign powers, including Russia, may have been behind the shooting. They pointed out the fact that Armenia and Azerbaijan were close in signing some kind of an agreement at the OSCE 1999 Istanbul summit over Karabakh, something not in Russia's interest. The former Russian secret service agent Alexander Litvinenko accused the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of having organised the Armenian parliament shooting, ostensibly to derail the peace process which would have resolved the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but he offered no evidence to support the accusation. Russian and Armenian officials denied this claims.

The French-based Armenian political refugee and former Apostolic priest Artsruni Avetisysan (also known by his religious name Ter Girgor) gave an interview to A1plus, in which he claimed the Russian secret services have been behind the October 27, 1999 shooting. He also claimed the shooting was perpetrated by Lieutenant General Vahan Shirkhanyan, the Deputy Minister of Defense from 1992 to 1999 and the National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan. He insisted the shooting was assisted by the Russian secret services in order to bring the "Neo-Bolshevik criminal clan" of Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan into power.

Others suggested that it was in the best interest of the West to remove Sargsyan and Demirchyan from the political scene, as they had close ties to Russia. Ashot Manucharyan, one of the leading members of the Karabakh Committee, the former Minister of Internal Affairs and Levon Ter-Petrosyan's National Security Adviser and his close ally until 1993, stated in October 2000 that Armenian officials were warned by a foreign country about the shootings. He also declared that "Western special services" were involved in the October 27 events. In Manucharyan's words, "the special services of the US and France are acting to destroy Armenia, and in this context, they are much likely to be involved in the realization of the terrorist acts in Armenia." Manucharyan claims the shooting was planned by Kocharyan in order to get rid of his two major rivals (Sargsyan and Demirchyan), who were against the Goble plan, involving territorial concessions to Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict.

Impact

"For weeks the Armenians mourned in silence, but from their grief a startling theory began to evolve. The assassinations had been pinned on the terrorist leader, an ex-journalist named Nairi Hunanyan, but the public was not satisfied. The fact was that Prime Minister Sargsyan and Speaker Demirchyan had recently created in parliament an alliance for democratic reform, and they were only men who commanded the resources and popularity to challenge the president one day. Of course, there was no actual evidence that Robert Kocharyan was complicit in this monstrous crime against the Armenian people, but it was clear that he emerged from the bloodbath with absolute power."

 —Garin Hovannisian, Family of Shadows, 2010

From early June to late October 1999, the political system in Armenia was based on the Demirchyan-Sargsyan tandem, which controlled the military, the legislative and the executive branches. Their assassination disrupted the political balance in the country and the political arena of Armenia was left in disarray for months. The assassination hit Armenia's international reputation resulting in a decline in the foreign investment.

The "de facto dual command" of Sargsyan and Demirchyan transferred to President Robert Kocharyan. Kocharyan successfully prevented the Unity bloc-controlled parliament from impeaching him and gradually consolidated the power around him, however, he remained highly unpopular in Armenia showed by a poll in August 20002, almost three years after the shooting, at least three other politicians (Stepan Demirchyan, Artashes Geghamyan, Levon Ter-Petrosyan) having more support in the public than him. In 2009, Anahit Bakhshyan, an MP from Heritage and the widow of Yuri Bakhshyan, the killed Deputy National Assembly Speaker, stated that "Robert Kocharyan turned October 27, 1999 terrorism act to good use, making a shift towards more totalitarian regime." Human Development Report wrote in 2000 that the "October 27 events adversely impacted the situation in the country in all aspects and spheres and its consequences will be felt for long, in economic, political and social expressions" and predicted a further decline in human development.

After the shooting, the Interior and National Security Ministers (Suren Abrahamyan and Serzh Sargsyan respectively) resigned as a result of pressure from the Defence Ministry led by Vazgen Sargsyan's close ally Vagharshak Harutiunyan at the time. Aram Khachatryan from the People's Party of Armenia was elected speaker of the parliament, while Vazgen Sargsyan's brother Aram Sargsyan was appointed Prime Minister. However, Aram Sargsyan was dismissed by President Kocharyan in May 2000 due to "inability to work" with Sargsyan's cabinet. Republican Party leader Andranik Margaryan came to replace him as Prime Minister on May 12, 2000.

As the two main leaders of the Unity bloc were assassinated, the two parties in the alliance (the Republican Party of Armenia and the People's Party of Armenia) gradually lost edges of collaboration and by late 2000 the Unity bloc collapsed. James R. Hughes claims that the so-called "Karabakh clan" (i.e. Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan) was "kept in check" by Vazgen Sargsyan and his "military-security apparatus", while after the parliament shooting it came out to be the sole influential group able to successfully take over the political scene in Armenia. The Yerkrapah, the Republican Party, the People's Party were disintegrated by 2001. Aram Sargsyan and a number of other Yerkrapah members founded the Republic party in 2001. Karen Demrichyan's son Stepan Demirchyan ran against Kocharyan and lost him %33 to 67% in the second round. Observers and opposition claimed major fraud during the election sparking protests in 2003 and early 2004. Vazgen Sargsyan's brother Aram Sargsyan supported Stepan Demirchyan against Kocharyan.

Personal life and brothers

Sargsyan never married. According to Razmik Martirosyan, a friend of his and the Minister of Social Security from 1999 to 2003, Sargsyan promised in December 1987 that he will marry sometime before March 8 of the next year. The Karabakh movement started in February 1988 and Martirosyan claimed that the popular movement "did what it did." In a 1997 interview Sargsyan revealed that his favorite historical military figure is Charles de Gaulle. When asked about what kind of Armenia he would like to see in five years, he said "an independent, self-sufficient country with strong culture, school and army."

Aram Sargsyan, Vazgen Sargsyan's brother

Sargsyan had two younger brothers, Aram and Armen. Since Sargsyan's death, his brothers have been in the opposite sides of the political spectrum. Aram was appointed Prime Minister by President Kocharyan on November 3, 1999, a week after Vazgen Sargsyan's death largely as a "political gesture". After becoming a Prime Minister, Aram Sargsyan said "I recognized the enormous responsibility I am taking on and I am ready to continue and guarantee the policy of the government of Vazgen Sargsyan." He also admitted that Armenia has "no concept of state security" and that fact led to the assassination of his brother. Aram Sargsyan served in the position of the Prime Minister for only six months. He resigned on May 2, 2000 due to disagreements with President Kocharyan. In his television statement, Kocharyan claimed that he relieved Aram Sargsyan to end the "disarray" in the Armenian leadership. Kocharyan blamed Sargsyan in being involved in "political games."

Aram Sargsyan founded the Republic (Hanrapetutyun) opposition party in April 2001 along with several influential Yerkrapah members, such as the former Mayor of Yerevan Albert Bazeyan and former Defence Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan. Its co-founder Bazeyan stated that the party is the "bearer of the political heritage of Vazgen Sargsian and will try to realize the programs aborted by the October 27 crime and its consequences." The party backed up Stepan Demirchyan against Kocharyan in 2003 and Levon Ter-Petrosyan against Serzh Sargsyan in 2008 presidential elections. In a 2013 interview, Aram Sargsyan talked about the past 14 years after his brother's death:

If things were done as Vazgen Sargsyan wanted, I would not be in opposition and I would do everything I could to make his wishes come true. Today, I'm fighting for his wishes to be realized. His wishes were very simple. He wanted to see a strong Armenia. Vazgen was an optimist and he spread hope, honesty, dedication, love for the fatherland. The president after Vazgen did the opposite. He only saw materialism and selfishness in people and encouraging those values he remained in power, thus polluting the country.

Vazgen Sargsyan's other brother, Armen, supported Serzh Sargsyan in the 2013 presidential election. On March 5, 2013, Aram Sargsyan was asked about his brother's political stance, to which he responded "I would very much like to ask Vazgen that question. I don't know what he would have answered. I don't know Vazgen's answers to very few questions. Unfortunately, our friends and relatives are not always the way we want them to be. I am not the first one, neither am I the last one; the history of the world is full of such examples starting from the Bible."

Legacy and tribute

Vazgen Sargsyan's memorial in Yerablur

Vazgen Sargsyan was awarded with the Hero of Artsakh title, the highest award of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in 1998. On December 27, 1999, two months after the parliament shooting, Sargsyan was posthumously given the National Hero of Armenia title, thus becoming a recipient of the highest titles of the two Armenian republics. He is recognized as the founder of the Armenian army.

A presidential decree issued on December 28, 1999, named the Yerevan military academy Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute after his honor. The Republican Stadium in Yerevan was named after Vazgen Sargsyan by the same decree. Numerous streets in Armenia and Karabakh, including one in Yerevan's Kentron (Central) district and in Stepanakert, a park in Kapan are named after Sargsyan. Statues of Sargsyan were erected in Yerevan (2007), Ararat (2009) Vanadzor and other places. In 2000, October 27 was declared a day of remembrance by the Armenian government. In 2002 the Armenian Defence Ministry created the Medal of Vazgen Sargsyan, which is awarded for "meritorious services towards military education and improvements in service life."

Sargsyan's House-Museum in Ararat

Every year on March 5 (Sargsyan's birthday) and October 27 (the day of the 1999 parliament shooting) Sargsyan is commemorated in Armenia and Karabakh. His comrades from the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union, high state officials and many others visit the Yerablur cemetery, where he and other Armenian military figures are buried.

Vazgen Sargsyan's museum was opened in his hometown Ararat on March 5, 2001. The Armenian government made that decision a year earlier. Notable attendees of the opening ceremony of the museum included Premier Minister Andranik Margaryan, National Assembly Speaker Armen Khachatryan, Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan, other high-ranked military and diplomatic representatives, such as the former Russian Minister of Defence Pavel Grachev, who revealed in his speech at the ceremony that Sargsyan was once his student.

Sargsyan is often referred to as Sparapet, a military rank that existed since the Kingdom of Armenia. The phrase "Սպարապետ Հայոց" Sparapet Hayots, literally meaning "Commander of the Armenians", is engraved on Sargsyan's memorial in Yerablur cemetery where he is buried. The song "Sparapet" by Alla Levonyan is dedicated to his memory.

Public image and recognition

"The public doesn't really know me. Only people in my inner circle know me well. Others identify me by the beard, always mad, sweaty and that is today's image. People don't understand me, they are scared of me."

 —Vazgen Sargsyan

In Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and, to a lesser extent, in the Armenian diaspora, Vazgen Sargsyan is popularly recognized as a national hero. Five surveys were conducted by Gallup, Inc., International Republican Institute, Armenian Sociological Association in the period from 2006 to 2008 asking the question "Of the prominent Armenian people and characters in Armenian history and folk culture, who is most suitable to be a national hero or leader at the present time?". Vazgen Sargsyan topped the list of national heroes according to the Armenian public, with 15 to 20% of the respondents giving his name. He left behind the two prominent early 20th century military commanders Andranik Ozanian and Garegin Nzhdeh. Sargsyan was generally perceived as a man of "tremendous power and charisma", known for his "brutality, temper, and nonchalant attitude toward the law."

Sargsyan on a 2000 post stamp

Vazgen Sargsyan contributions have been acknowledged by his colleagues and comrades. In 1997, President Levon Ter-Petrosyan stated "today–if there is someone who really deserves a title of National Hero of Armenia, it is Vazgen Sargsian. And if all members of our government worked as conscientiously and selflessly as Vazgen Sargsian we would live in a perfect state." Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan said in his speech during Sargsyan's funeral that "history will provide its assessment of Vazgen Sargsyan as a politician who stood at the birth of the Armenian state. His role in the creation of the national army is beyond appraisal. By his life and commitment Vazgen Sargsyan has made an immense contribution to the establishment of a powerful country." In 2007, giving a speech on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Armenian Armed Forces, the Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan (and the incumbent president) noted that Vazgen Sargsyan "was a valiant soldier dedicated to the cause our statehood and who revered the strength of Armenia and the strength of the Armenian soldier and who had a staunch belief in our future success." Dr. Ara Sanjian, the director of the Armenian Studies at the Haigazian University in Beirut wrote shortly after Sargsyan's assassination:

History will rightly remember Vazgen Sargsyan as the founder of the modern Armenian armed forces and one of the chief architects behind the victories in recent years on the Karabagh front. Comparisons made in recent days with Vardan Mamikonian and Andranik Ozanian are certainly not exaggerations in the technical sense. He seems to have been a personality who never ran away from shouldering the toughest of responsibilities and seemed to end always on the winning side.

Vazgen Sargsyan Street in central Yerevan

In the Western media, Vazgen Sargsyan was generally described as a strong nationalist. A 1999 BBC article called him "one of Armenia's most fervent nationalists." British journalist Jonathan Steele in a 1999 Guardian article wrote of Sargsyan as "a fierce nationalist who always preferred action and force to words and diplomacy." Encyclopædia Britannica calls him "Armenian nationalist who, having devoted much of his life to the Armenian fight with Azerbaijan for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave." Lowell Barrington, the Chair of the Department of Political Science at the Marquette University called Sargsyan "the last significant nationalist politician whose commitment to Karabakh and Armenia—was not doubted by anyone."

Sargsyan was sometimes criticized in the West for his alleged undemocratic approach. The US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe claimed that his "record does not inspire confidence in his commitment to democracy." In March 1999, Asbarez (the Los Angeles-based newspaper of the ARF) wrote that the "opposition parties have held him responsible for the handling of recent years' elections marred with serious irregularities." The 2008 book Religious freedom in the world claimed that the "thuggish" Defence Minister Vazgen Sargsyan was responsible for the 1995 assaults on religious minorities (especially those that discourage military service) in Armenia, carried out, allegedly, by Yerkrapah. British journalist Thomas de Waal described Sargsyan a "feudal baron" and claimed that Yerkrapah controlled "large areas of the economy."

See also

• Military history of Armenia
• Nagorno-Karabakh War
• Tatul Krpeyan
• Monte Melkonian

References

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Croissant, Michael P. (1998). The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: causes and implications. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96241-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Giragosian, Richard (June 1999). Post-Election Analysis: The New Armenian Parliament (PDF). Bay Area Armenian National Committee. Retrieved 27 April 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Report on Armenia's parliamentary election May 30, 1999 (PDF). Washington, DC: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
• The Armenian Parliamentary Elections, 30th May 1999 (PDF). British Helsinki Human Rights Group. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
• Republic of Armenia Parliamentary election 30 May 1999 Final Report (PDF). Warsaw: Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. 30 July 1999.
• Astourian, Stephan H. (2001). From Ter-Petrosian to Kocharian: Leadership Change in Armenia (PDF). University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 11 January 2013. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lea, David (2001). A Political Chronology of the Middle-East. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-85743-115-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hughes, James R. (2002). Ethnicity and territory in the former Soviet Union: regions in conflict. London: Cass. ISBN 978-0-7146-8210-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-1945-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Adalian, Rouben Paul (2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7450-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

Images

• Vazgen Sargsya's pictures from early 1990s at ankakhutyun.am

Documentary videos

• Vazgen Sargsyan's TV speech calling on volunteers, August 15, 1992
• Vazgen Sargsyan's press conference, January 23, 1998
• Vazgen Sargsyan talking about Levon Ter-Petrosyan, June 1998
• Excerpt from Vazgen Sargsyan's speech at the Republican Party convention, January 29, 1999
• Vazgen Sargsyan's speech on October 27, 1999, just before his assassination

Films

• Short film about the October 27, 1999 shooting in the parliament by A1plus
• "Mahapartner" short film by the Public Television of Armenia
• A short film about Yerkrapah by the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union
• "Vazgen Sargsyan" short film by Eduard Hambardzumyan, 2010
• "Vazgen's lessons" an excerpt from the news on March 5, 2013 by Shant TV
• "Life the way it is: Vazgen Sargsyan by Armenia TV, May 2013

Music

• "Sparapet" by Alla Levonyan music video