Despite pledging in 2014 not to become prime minister again while supporting anamendment of the constitution in 2015 that would allow it, Sargsyan was again elected prime minister in April 2018, in what opposition figures described as a "power grab".[4] Six days after taking office, Sargsyan resigned afterlarge-scale protests.[5] Sargsyan is currently the leader of the Republican Party, which was the ruling party of Armenia from 1999 to 2018 and is currently represented in parliament as a part of the oppositionI Have Honor Alliance.[6]
Early life and career
Serzh Sargsyan (born Serzhik Azati Sargysan)[7][8] was born on 30 June 1954 inStepanakert in theNagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. He is the son of Azat Avetisi Sargsyan (1929–2013) and Nora Sargsyan․[9] His father's family hailed from the village ofTegh in theArmenian SSR, and moved to Stepanakert after the arrest of Serzh Sargsyan's grandfather during the 1937Great Purge.[10] He enteredYerevan State University in 1971 and served in theSoviet Armed Forces in theUral region from 1971 to 1972.[10] He began his career in 1975 at the Electrical Devices Factory inYerevan.[11] He graduated from the Philological Department of Yerevan State University in 1979. In 1983, he married his wife,Rita (née Dadayan).[1] In addition to his native Armenian, he is fluent in Russian and also knowsAzerbaijani.[12][13] He is not related to the formerPrime Minister of Armenia,Tigran Sargsyan, who served under him, nor to his successor as PresidentArmen Sarkissian.
Political career
Early career
Starting in 1979, Sargsyan held several positions in the StepanakertKomsomol Committee: first as division head, then second secretary and first secretary (his long-time political allyRobert Kocharyan served as his deputy).[1][14] He then became the Stepanakert City Committee Propaganda Division Head, the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee Communist Organizations' Unit Instructor, and finally became assistant toGenrikh Poghosyan, the First Secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee.[1]
In November 1989, Sargsyan was a delegate from Nagorno-Karabakh to the first congress of thePan-Armenian National Movement.[11] He was elected to theSupreme Council of Armenia in 1990.[11] During theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War, Sargsyan was involved in organizing the defense of Nagorno-Karabakh and the formation of theNKR Defense Army in various capacities.[15] In January 1992, when the first government of theNagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was formed withOleg Yesayan as prime minister, Sargsyan was appointed head of the Defense Committee, a position he held until the dissolution of the government in August 1992.[15] Sargsyan then became a member of the seven-man State Defense Committee of the NKR (effectively the government of the NKR) which was formed in August 1992.[15] Sargsyan held the position of minister of the army within the State Defense Committee.[15]
From 1993 to 1995 he served his first term as Armenia's Minister of Defense under PresidentLevon Ter-Petrosyan.[1] In 1995 he became Minister of National Security of Armenia (initially called the State Security Department) and from 1996 to 1999 he concurrently served as Minister of Interior.[1] In February 1998, Sargsyan, along with then-Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan and Defense MinisterVazgen Sargsyan, forced President Ter-Petrosyan to resign in order to prevent him from accepting a peace plan for theNagorno-Karabakh conflict put forward by international mediators in September 1997.[16] The proposal envisioned the return of most of theArmenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in exchange for security guarantees, but left the final resolution of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh for future negotiations.[17] From 1999 to 2000 he served as the Chief of Staff for PresidentRobert Kocharyan, and then served once again as theDefense Minister of Armenia from 2000 to 2007.[1] He was also the Secretary of theNational Security Council led by President Kocharyan from 1999 to 2007.[1] On 4 April 2007 Sargsyan was appointed as thePrime Minister of Armenia, following the sudden death ofAndranik Margaryan.[1]
Presidential election
Sargsyan, with President Kocharyan's backing, was viewed as the strongest contender for the post of the President of Armenia in theFebruary 2008 presidential election. Full provisional results showed him winning about 53% of the vote, a first round majority, well ahead of second place candidateLevon Ter-Petrosyan.[18] The 2008 Presidential election was hailed as largely democratic byOSCE, theEuropean Union (EU) and Western monitors.[19][20]
Ter-Petrosyan's supporters, disputing the official results, heldlarge protests in Yerevan for over a week following the election, until they were violently broken up on 1 March; ten people (eight protestors and two police officers) were killed, and a state of emergency was imposed for 20 days, ending on 20 March 2008.[citation needed]
Serzh Sargsyan was sworn in as president at theYerevan Opera House on 9 April 2008. Referring to the "painful events" that followed the election, he "urge[d] everybody to look forward, together, to seek and find the way for reconciliation, development, and future of Armenia."[3] He appointedTigran Sargsyan, who had been the Chairman of the Central Bank and is not a member of a political party, as Prime Minister.[21] According to the Freedom House report "In 2011, the government took concrete steps to fulfill longstanding and often repeated promises to confront corruption. E-government services reduced opportunities for bribery, while new regulations and stricter enforcement led to higher numbers of corruption lawsuits and fines against senior officials and large companies. Owing to a more consolidated government effort to eradicate corruption, Armenia's corruption ratingimprove[d] from 5.50 to 5.25."[22]
During Sargsyan's presidency the record of the freedom of speech and the freedom of press in general also improved in Armenia. Internet penetration rose sharply – from 6.2 percent in 2008 to 37 percent in 2011, providing greater access to online media, which rapidly grew in number, includingblogosphere – with over 10,000 bloggers in 2011.[22]
After the elections Sargsyan also authorized opposition rallies to take place in Yerevan[23] and pledged to comply with theCouncil of Europe's demands for an end to the government's crackdown on the opposition.[24]
Civil society also grew considerably during Sargsyan's presidency, with the number of non-governmental organizations growing at a higher rate and with civic activists succeeding in raising public awareness and holding important campaigns in the sphere of human rights, environmental protection and social justice. However, according to Freedom House, public advocacy still had limited impact on public policy.[22]
Economy
The start of Sargsyan's presidency coincided with theGreat Recession. In 2009, Armenia's GDP contracted over 14%,[25] which according to the World Bank was the fifth worst in the world that year after the threeBaltic states and Ukraine.[26] GDP growth subsequently stabilized at around 3% by 2013.[27] As of 2014, Armenia's GDP is below the pre-crisis levels. During his first term of presidency, the official poverty rate doubled and reached 32.4% in 2012.[28] According to official data, some 213,000 people have left Armenia from 2008 to 2013.[29] In 2012, Armenia was ranked 39th out of 179 economies according to theIndex of Economic Freedom and ranked 19th freest among the 43 countries in the Europe region.[30]
In September 2013 and under Sargsyan's direction, Armenia announced its intentions of joining theEurasian Economic Union with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.[31] The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU) is aneconomic union ofBelarus,Kazakhstan andRussia, and came into force on 1 January 2015.[32] Treaties aiming forArmenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union was signed on 9 October 2014. Armenia's accession treaty came into force on 2 January 2015.[33] The Eurasian Economic Union has an integratedsingle market of 176 million people and agross domestic product of over 4 trillion U.S. dollars (PPP).[34] The EEU introduces the free movement of goods, capital, services and people and provides for common transport, agriculture and energy policies, with provisions for a single currency and greater integration in the future.[35][36]
Sargsyan made his first address in front of the 63rd session of theUnited Nations General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2008. In his speech he referenced the2008 South Ossetia conflict and emphasized the need for theUnited Nations to help bring peaceful resolution to armed conflicts around the world, including the one inNagorno-Karabakh. He also mentioned howAzerbaijan's military buildup along with increasing war rhetoric and threats risked causing renewed problems in theSouth Caucasus.[37]
Sargsyan continued the policy towards the peaceful resolution of theNagorno-Karabakh conflict pursued by his predecessors, which constitutes one of the main goals of theArmenian foreign policy.[38] Sargsyan repeatedly stated that the Armenian side is interested in finding a just and exclusively peaceful solution to the conflict and that theOSCE Minsk Group is the viable format within which the peace talks should continue.[39][40][41] He continued negotiations with Azerbaijan and had a number of meetings with thepresident of Azerbaijan within the framework of OSCE Minsk Group. On 2 November 2008,Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan traveled toMoscow for talks withDmitry Medvedev. The talks ended in the three Presidents signing a declaration confirming their commitment to continue talks.[42] The two presidents met again in 2009 inSaint Petersburg[43] and on 22 November 2009, together with several world leaders, inMunich where President Aliyev once more threatened to resort to military force to reestablish control over the region if the two sides did not reach an agreeable settlement.[44]
Sargsyan blames the Azerbaijani side for hampering the peace process and for pursuing an openly anti-Armenian stance. According to him, theanti-Armenian policies of Azerbaijan, such as "state-supported falsifications of history", "hostile propaganda against Armenia and Armenians" and "military build-up" prove that Azerbaijan does not want peace.[citation needed]
The most vivid expression of anti-Armenian policies of Azerbaijan was the hero's welcome given to the convicted ax murdererRamil Safarov who had brutally killed Armenian officerGurgen Margaryan during theNATO'sPartnership for Peace program inBudapest in 2004. The fact that after his extradition to Azerbaijan in 2012 Safarov was pardoned by presidentAliyev, promoted to the rank of major, given an apartment with over eight years of back pay and was made a national hero,[45] hampers the negotiation process and proves, in Sargsyan's words, that "the Azeri propaganda brings up an entire generation in the atmosphere ofxenophobia and intolerance."[46]
Sargsyan has also clearly stated:
The Armenophobic and aggressive stance of Azerbaijan reinforces our conviction that Nagorno-Karabakh has no future within Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan has neither legal nor political or moral grounds to claim over Nagorno-Karabakh.[47]
Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijan'sIlham Aliyev, 23 January 2012
In his speech made at the BritishChatham House Sargsyan said:
Our belief is that the settlement of the Karabakh conflict should be based on human rights and the will of the Karabakh people… It is the only way to achieve lasting, feasible, and peaceful settlement. The alternative to this settlement is the forcing of the Karabakh people back into Azerbaijan, which will inevitably lead to attempts of new ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Karabakh. There is no alternative here."[48]
Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Sochi, 9 August 2014Sargsyan with U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry, 16 May 2016Sargsyan in Doha,Qatar, 24 July 2017
Responding to the persistent war rhetoric of Azerbaijan, Sargsyan has condemned it as a violation of the norms of the international law, as the parties had signed a truce which Azerbaijan, the "defeated aggressor", had asked for.[49][50]
He repeatedly said that his country is categorically against the resumption of military hostilities, but at the same time is ready to counter any military aggression. In 2014, Sargsyan stated "We don't want war and never wanted, but at that time [i.e. during Nagorno-Karabakh war] we had to defend our Motherland. If the time comes again, this time our blow will be final and deadly."[51]
In this regard, Sargsyan declared that in the case of military aggression from Azerbaijan "Armenia will have no other choice but to recognize theNagorno-Karabakh Republicde jure and to employ all its capabilities to ensure the security of the people ofArtsakh."[52]
Sargsyan met with Ilham Aliyev again in Russian-mediated talks inKazan in June 2011, where the two sides reportedly came close to an agreement.[53] The basic principles discussed at Kazan envisioned the return of five of the seven districts of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia in exchange for "interim status" for Nagorno-Karabakh and the deployment of international peacekeepers, with the final status of the region to be decided by a legally-binding referendum.[54] The proposals made at Kazan were ultimately rejected by the Azerbaijani side.[54]
In his electoral program of 2013, Sargsyan promised to increase the security guarantees of Nagorno-Karabakh and its people given Azerbaijan's policy ofArmenophobia.[55] He also highlighted the importance of strengthening the defensive system of Armenia "as a factor restraining the Azerbaijani aggression and ensuring stability in the South Caucasus".[41] He also promised to take all the necessary efforts to ensure that Karabakh becomes a negotiating side in the peace talks as well as to foster the ties between Karabakh and the international community.[55]
As for the position of Armenia concerning the independence ofKosovo, Sargsyan stated that "Armenia's possible recognition ofKosovo's independence will not strain the Armenian-Russian relations" but also noted that the "Kosovo recognition issue needs serious discussion... Armenia has always been an adherent to the right of nations toself-determination and in this aspect we welcome Kosovo's independence."[56]
In April 2016, Sargsyan led Armenia through the2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (also known as the Four-Day War or the April War), the most significant outbreak of violence on theNagorno-Karabakh line of contact after the 1994 ceasefire and before the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. The four days of fighting resulted in at least dozens of deaths and the loss of approximately 800 hectares of land.[57] Sargsyan described the outcome of the four-day clashes as a victory for Armenia, although he faced criticism for shortcomings during the clashes as well as accusations that he had agreed to cede territory to Azerbaijan in the wake of the fighting.[57][58][59] In order to stop this purported cession of territory, a group of armed men calling themselves "Daredevils of Sasun"seized a police headquarters in Yerevan in July 2016 and took hostages, demanding Sargsyan's resignation.[59] The crisis, which coincided with mass protests in support of the attackers, ended with the surrender of the gunmen on 31 July 2016.[59]
Reflecting on his presidency and the negotiation process after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, during which the Armenian side lost much of the territory it controlled in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsyan stated that he intended to achieve a final negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that this was the reason for his decision to remain as prime minister in 2018, which led to protests that forced his resignation.[60] He denied that he had deliberately delayed the negotiation process in order to maintain the status quo or that he had ever held the view that "not one inch of land" could be handed over to Azerbaijan in order to resolve the conflict.[60] He added that he was "ready to bear the label of traitor, but resolve the [Nagorno-Karabakh] question."[60]
Turkey
Sargsyan with Turkish PresidentAbdullah Gül in Yerevan, 6 September 2008
Having been elected as a president for his first term in 2008, Sargsyan pledged to continue Armenia's policy towards Turkey, to normalize relations without any preconditions while continuing to strive for international recognition of the 1915Armenian genocide.[61]
Coming to power, Sargsyan took steps towards the normalization of ties with Turkey, a policy termed as "football diplomacy". In 2008, Sargsyan took a historical initiative to invite Turkish PresidentAbdullah Gül to Armenia to watch a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Armenia and Turkey.[62]Abdullah Gül attended the game in Armenia while Serzh Sargsyan made a reciprocal visit to Turkey to watch the second match.[63]
On 10 October 2009 the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey signedprotocols on establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries without any preconditions. The accord also presupposed the opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey which had been closed by Turkey in 1993.[64][65] The protocols were signed in Geneva, Switzerland under the international mediation, chiefly that of the United States.
Sargsyan's policy of rapprochement with Turkey received controversial reaction among the Armenian people. While one part was for the opening of the border and fostering trade with Turkey the other part was concerned that by this move Armenia would be forced to make concessions to Turkey in the most vital and strategic matters. Armenian influential opposition parties, most notably theArmenian Revolutionary Federation were categorically against the signing of the protocols, given the recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border and the setting up of a joint commission of historians researching the Armenian Genocide, as envisioned by the protocols. They considered these steps as a sellout and staged mass protests against the signing of the protocols.[66]TheArmenian Diaspora was also largely opposed to this type of reconciliation with Turkey, arguing (despite Sargsyan's assurances to the contrary) that this would jeopardize the international recognition of theArmenian genocide as well as the prospects of legitimate territorial claims of Armenians from Turkey.[67]
The process of reconciliation, however, was suspended after a year. In Armenia, before sending the protocols to the parliament, it was sent to the Constitutional Court to have their approval. The Constitutional Court made references to the preamble of the protocols underlying three main issues.[68] One of them stated that the implementation of the protocols did not imply Armenia's official recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border established by theTreaty of Kars. By doing so, the Constitutional Court rejected one of the main premises of the protocols, i.e. "the mutual recognition of the existing border between the two countries as defined by relevant treaties of international law".[68][69] This was regarded by the Turkish Government as effectively revising the protocols and thus the reason to back down from the process.[70] As a consequence, the Turkish Parliament did not ratify the protocols.[71] The Armenian side accused Turkey to tie the reconciliation process with the resolution of theNagorno-Karabakh conflict, expecting concessions on the Armenian side, which was unacceptable for the latter. Sargsyan explained the suspension of the reconciliation process by the Armenian side in the following way:
For a whole year, Turkey's senior officials have not spared public statements in the language of preconditions. For a whole year, Turkey has done everything to protract time and fail the process... We consider unacceptable the pointless efforts of making the dialogue between Armenia and Turkey an end in itself; from this moment on, we consider the current phase of normalization exhausted."[71]
Sargsyan however has also stated that unlikeAnkara,Yerevan remains committed to its initiative to normalizing relations with Turkey.[41]
President Sargsyan supported Armenia's efforts to ink anAssociation Agreement with the EU, which contains aDeep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, for several years. Under his presidency, the negotiations for the agreement were completed and Armenia was set to sign the agreement at an upcoming EU Summit. However, President Sargsyan made a drastic policy reversal when in September 2013, after a meeting with PresidentVladimir Putin in Moscow, he opted to join the Russian-ledEurasian Economic Union. It was widely believed that Russian pressure and threats killed Armenia's deal with the EU. Even though such a reversal was made, President Sargsyan's administration was determined to further EU inspired reforms in law and governance, and this led to Armenia signing theComprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union on 24 November 2017. Behind the scenes, Russia granted approval to Armenia to sign the deal after any economic provisions were removed from the deal.[72][73][74][75]
Major protests against Sargsyan's regime began in 2011, with the president's 2008 rivalLevon Ter-Petrosyan at their helm.[76][77][78][79] In a concession to protesters, Sargsyan said on 20 April 2011 that the government would recommit to a thorough investigation of thepost-election violence of three years prior.[80]
In July 2016, thousands of Armenians protested in the capital Yerevan in support of the "Daredevils of Sasun," an armed group that stormed police headquarters in Yerevan and took hostages while calling for the release of all political prisoners and the resignation of president Serzh Sargsyan.[81] The National Security Service of Armenia called the takeover (which resulted in the deaths of three policemen) a terrorist attack, but a growing number of Armenians disagreed with that assessment.[81]
Shortly after the end of his presidency on 9 April 2018,[82] Sargsyan was electedPrime Minister of Armenia on 17 April. Opposition figures described this as a "power grab" and there werelarge-scale protests against him.[4] On 22 April, Sargsyan held a three-minute televised meeting with opposition MP and leader of the protestsNikol Pashinyan. Sargsyan accused the opposition of delivering an ultimatum for his resignation instead of engaging in dialogue, and left the meeting early; Pashinyan was detained by police hours after the meeting.[83] The continuing protests were eventually successful in pressuring Sargsyan. On 23 April, Pashinyan was released from detention and Sargsyan announced his resignation.[82] Former Prime MinisterKaren Karapetyan succeeded Sargsyan as acting Prime Minister.[82] Armenia'sNational Assembly, still controlled by Sargsyan's Republican Party, electedNikol Pashinyan Prime Minister on 8 May 2018.[84]
Criminal prosecution
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2023)
Sargsyan has been under criminal prosecution within the scope of a criminal case onembezzlement. The Special Investigative Service of Armenia on 4 December 2019, has brought embezzlement charges against Sargsyan, particularly for the organization of the embezzlement of half a billionAMD within the scope of the state program on assisting farmers to obtain diesel fuel on affordable price in 2013.[85] In January 2020, based on sufficient evidence collected, the Special Investigative Service has indicted Sargsyan for embezzlement on especially large scale (AMD ֏489,160,310) and the criminal case with the indictment has been handed to the prosecutor supervising the case for approval and sending it to court.[86][87]
Honours and awards
Serzh Sargsyan has thus far been conferred the following honors:
Order of first Degree "Martakan Khach" ("Combat Cross") (Armenia, 1994)[88]
In 1983, he married his wife,Rita Sargsyan née Dadayan, with whom he has two daughters, Anush and Satenik. They have two granddaughters, Mariam and Rita, and two grandsons, Ara and Serzh.[1] Sargsyan is also the chairman of theArmenian Chess Federation. His wife Rita died on 20 November 2020, fromCOVID-19 at the age of 58.[93]
Sargsyan has two younger brothers: Alexander (Sashik), a businessman and former member of Armenia's parliament, and Levon, a diplomat and professor atYerevan State University.[10]
Other details
Othertranscriptions of his given name areSerge andSerj, of the surnameSarkissian, Sarkisyan, Sargsyan, Sarkissyan, thetransliteration isSerž Azati Sargsyan (seeRomanization of Armenian). His name during the Soviet era was Russified asSerzh Azatovich Sargsyan (Серж Аза́тович Саргся́н).
^Hakobyan, Tatul (30 June 2017)."Սերժ Սարգսյանի կենսագրությունից հանել են Բաքուն և Աղդամը" [Baku and Aghdam have been removed from Serzh Sargsyan's biography].CIVILNET (in Armenian).Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved27 September 2021.Before 1996... Serzh Sargsyan had the name Serzhik Sargsyan in official sources and the 'Republic of Armenia' daily.
^De Waal, Thomas (2003).Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War. New York and London: New York University Press. p. 54.ISBN0-8147-1944-9.Sarkisian told me that he himself spoke good Azeri and had a lot of Azerbaijani friends
^De Waal, Thomas (2003).Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War. New York and London: New York University Press. p. 53.ISBN0-8147-1944-9.
^abcd"Արցախյան հերոսամարտ". Website of 3rd President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. 9 February 2011. Archived fromthe original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved30 October 2020.
^"Armenia, Georgia to Boost Economic Ties After South Ossetia War".Eurasia Daily Monitor.5 (196). Jamestown Foundation. 2010.
.jpg)
_%25D0%25B8_%25D0%25A1.%25D0%25A1%25D0%25B0%25D1%2580%25D0%25B3%25D1%2581%25D1%258F%25D0%25BD%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BC_-_1.jpeg)
.jpg)
_01.jpg)
.jpg)
