26 Facts About Vazgen Manukyan

Vazgen Mikayeli Manukyan is an Armenian politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Armenia from 1990 to 1991.

From 1992 to 1993, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Manukyan was acting Defence Minister of Armenia.

Vazgen Manukyan was a member of Armenia's parliament from 1990 to 2007.

Vazgen Manukyan was a co-founder and the coordinator of the Karabakh Committee, the body which led the Karabakh movement aimed at uniting Nagorno-Karabakh with Soviet Armenia.

Vazgen Manukyan was arrested by Soviet authorities on December 10,1988, along with other members of the Karabakh Committee, and spent 6 months in Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina prison.

Vazgen Manukyan was elected the first chairman of the Pan-Armenian National Movement in October 1989.

On September 26,1991, Vazgen Manukyan resigned as prime minister and founded his own party, the National Democratic Union, and has since served as its chairman.

Vazgen Manukyan was dismissed from his post in August 1993.

Vazgen Manukyan lost further presidential elections in 1998,2003 and 2008.

Vazgen Manukyan's family emigrated to Yerevan from the region of Moxoene during the Armenian genocide.

Vazgen Manukyan's father, Mikael Manuki Manukyan, was a doctor of sciences and a professor at Yerevan State University.

Vazgen Manukyan is a candidate of physics and mathematics, has the title of Docent, and has authored a number of scientific articles.

Vazgen Manukyan's wife, Varduhi Ishkhanyan, who is a mathematician by profession, is the daughter of well-known linguist and literary critic Rafael Ishkhanyan and linguist Byurakn Cheraz.

Vazgen Manukyan was a founding member of the Karabakh Committee and became its coordinator in June 1988.

Vazgen Manukyan held the view that it was necessary to work towards Armenian independence alongside the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, and gradually the demand for independence came to the forefront of the movement as well.

On July 5,1988, after Karabakh protestors clashed with Soviet troops at Zvartnots Airport, Vazgen Manukyan gave a speech at Opera Square calling for a nationwide strike for the first time.

Later when ANM founding board was created it consisted of almost all the members of the Karabakh Committee and Vazgen Manukyan was elected the first chairman of the party board.

On December 10,1988, Vazgen Manukyan was arrested along with the other members of the Karabakh Committee and spent six months in Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina prison before being released and returning the Yerevan, where the committee continued its activities.

In May 1990, Vazgen Manukyan was elected a member of the Supreme Council of Armenia, and on August 13,1990, he was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Armenia by the Supreme Council as a result, becoming the last head of government of Soviet Armenia and the first prime minister of the Third Republic of Armenia after it declared independence on September 21,1991.

Vazgen Manukyan became head of government during a difficult period for Armenia: the USSR was rapidly collapsing, and the political and economic blockade of Armenia from the north began.

Vazgen Manukyan's government had to deal with the collapse of the Soviet economic system and took the first steps to move towards a new economic system based on private property.

Vazgen Manukyan maintained a strong layer of professionals, experienced ministers and directors of large factories, who played a major role in establishing full relations with the new government, the USSR economic structures.

On September 25,1991, due to growing disagreements with Levon Ter-Petrosyan and other members of the ANM, Vazgen Manukyan resigned as prime minister and founded his own party called the National Democratic Union.

On Republic Day in May 1993, a military parade of the newly formed military on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of the First Republic of Armenia was held on Republic Square in Yerevan, during which Defence Minister Vazgen Manukyan delivered the holiday address during that event.

Vazgen Manukyan refused to accept the results of the election, alleging widespread fraud.

Vazgen Manukyan received around 12 percent of the votes in the special presidential elections held in 1998.