40 Facts About Serzh Sargsyan

1.

Serzh Azati Sargsyan is an Armenian politician who served as the third President of Armenia from 2008 to 2018, and twice as the Prime Minister of Armenia from 2007 to 2008 and again from 17 to 23 April 2018, when he was forced to resign in the 2018 Armenian revolution.

2.

Serzh Sargsyan won the February 2008 presidential election with the backing of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, a party in which he serves as chairman, and took office in April 2008.

3.

Six days after taking office, Serzh Sargsyan resigned after large-scale protests.

4.

Serzh 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 opposition I Have Honor Alliance.

5.

Serzh Sargsyan entered Yerevan State University in 1971 and served in the Soviet Armed Forces in the Ural region from 1971 to 1972.

6.

Serzh Sargsyan began his career in 1975 at the Electrical Devices Factory in Yerevan.

7.

Serzh Sargsyan graduated from the Philological Department of Yerevan State University in 1979.

8.

Serzh Sargsyan is not related to the former Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan, nor the former President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian.

9.

Serzh Sargsyan then became the Stepanakert City Committee Propaganda Division Head, the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee Communist Organizations' Unit Instructor, and finally became assistant to Genrikh Poghosyan, the First Secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee.

10.

In November 1989, Serzh Sargsyan was a delegate from Nagorno-Karabakh to the first congress of the Pan-Armenian National Movement.

11.

Serzh Sargsyan was elected to the Supreme Council of Armenia in 1990.

12.

In January 1992, when the first government of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was formed with Oleg Yesayan as prime minister, Serzh Sargsyan was appointed head of the Defense Committee, a position he held until the dissolution of the government in August 1992.

13.

Serzh Sargsyan then became a member of the seven-man State Defense Committee of the NKR which was formed in August 1992.

14.

Serzh Sargsyan held the position of minister of the army within the State Defense Committee.

15.

Serzh Sargsyan was the Secretary of the National Security Council led by President Kocharyan from 1999 to 2007.

16.

On 4 April 2007 Serzh Sargsyan was appointed as the Prime Minister of Armenia, following the sudden death of Andranik Margaryan.

17.

Serzh Sargsyan was sworn in as president at the Yerevan Opera House on 9 April 2008.

18.

The start of Serzh Sargsyan's presidency coincided with the Great Recession.

19.

Serzh Sargsyan made his first address in front of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2008.

20.

Serzh Sargsyan mentioned how Azerbaijan's military buildup along with increasing war rhetoric and threats risked causing renewed problems in the South Caucasus.

21.

Serzh Sargsyan continued the policy towards the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict pursued by his predecessors, which constitutes one of the main goals of the Armenian foreign policy.

22.

Serzh Sargsyan repeatedly stated that the Armenian side is interested in finding a just and exclusively peaceful solution to the conflict and that the OSCE Minsk Group is the viable format within which the peace talks should continue.

23.

On 2 November 2008, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan traveled to Moscow for talks with Dmitry Medvedev.

24.

Serzh Sargsyan blames the Azerbaijani side for hampering the peace process and for pursuing an openly anti-Armenian stance.

25.

Serzh Sargsyan 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.

26.

Serzh Sargsyan met with Ilham Aliyev again in Russian-mediated talks in Kazan in June 2011, where the two sides reportedly came close to an agreement.

27.

Serzh Sargsyan highlighted the importance of strengthening the defensive system of Armenia "as a factor restraining the Azerbaijani aggression and ensuring stability in the South Caucasus".

28.

Serzh Sargsyan 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.

29.

In 2008, Serzh Sargsyan took a historical initiative to invite Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Armenia to watch a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Armenia and Turkey.

30.

Abdullah Gul attended the game in Armenia while Serzh Sargsyan made a reciprocal visit to Turkey to watch the second match.

31.

Serzh Sargsyan explained the suspension of the reconciliation process by the Armenian side in the following way:.

32.

Serzh Sargsyan however has stated that unlike Ankara, Yerevan remains committed to its initiative to normalizing relations with Turkey.

33.

President Serzh Sargsyan supported Armenia's efforts to ink an Association Agreement with the EU, which contains a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, for several years.

34.

However, President Serzh Sargsyan made a drastic policy reversal when in September 2013, after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, he opted to join the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

35.

Major protests against Serzh Sargsyan's regime began in 2011, with the president's 2008 rival Levon Ter-Petrosyan at their helm.

36.

Shortly after the end of his presidency on 9 April 2018, Serzh Sargsyan was elected Prime Minister of Armenia on 17 April.

37.

Serzh 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.

38.

Serzh Sargsyan has been under criminal prosecution within the scope of a criminal case on embezzlement.

39.

Serzh Sargsyan has thus far been conferred the following honors:.

40.

Serzh Sargsyan has two younger brothers: Alexander, a businessman and former member of Armenia's parliament, and Levon, a diplomat and professor at Yerevan State University.