67 Facts About Vazgen Sargsyan

Vazgen Sargsyan was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1995 to 1999.

Vazgen Sargsyan served as Armenia's Prime Minister from 11 June 1999 until his assassination on 27 October of that year.

Vazgen Sargsyan rose to prominence during the mass movement for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the late 1980s and led Armenian volunteer groups during the early clashes with Azerbaijani forces.

Vazgen Sargsyan became prime minister, emerging as the de facto decision-maker in Armenia with effective control of the military and the legislature.

Vazgen Sargsyan has been criticized by human rights organizations for being undemocratic, especially for his role in elections.

Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan was born in Ararat village, Soviet Armenia, near the Turkish border, on 5 March 1959, to Greta and Zaven Sargsyan.

Vazgen Sargsyan worked as a physical education teacher at the secondary school in Ararat from 1979 to 1983.

An amateur writer, Vazgen Sargsyan developed a literary and active social life.

Vazgen Sargsyan wrote his first novel in 1980, and became a member of the Writers Union of Armenia in 1985.

In 1989 and 1990, Vazgen Sargsyan took the command of Armenian volunteer groups fighting near Yeraskh, on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, not far from his hometown.

Vazgen Sargsyan was elected to the Armenian parliament in the May 1990 election.

Vazgen Sargsyan served as the head of the Supreme Council Commission on Defense and Internal Affairs until December 1991.

On 15 August 1992, Vazgen Sargsyan called on Armenian men to gather and form a volunteer unit to fight against the advancing Azerbaijani forces in the northern parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The battalion Vazgen Sargsyan called for, named, was formed on 30 August 1992.

Between October 1992 and March 1993, Vazgen Sargsyan served as the Presidential Adviser on Defence Affairs and the Presidential Envoy to Border Regions of Armenia.

Vazgen Sargsyan was particularly active in unifying the various semi-independent detachments active in the war zone.

In 1993, Sargsyan founded and led Yerkrapah, a union of 5,000 war veterans, that had a great influence in Armenia's domestic politics in the post-war years and became the main base for Vazgen Sargsyan to rise in power.

Vazgen Sargsyan was appointed Minister of Defence by Ter-Petrosyan on 26 July 1995, during the restructuring of government ministries.

Vazgen Sargsyan remained in that position for almost four years.

Vazgen Sargsyan showed strong confidence in the army and stated in 1997 that its strength has doubled in the past two years.

Vazgen Sargsyan had "close connections" with the Russian military elite, especially Defense Minister Pavel Grachev.

Vazgen Sargsyan became 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.

Vazgen Sargsyan was described as an eminence grise of the Armenian politics, deciding many personnel appointments and dismissals.

In July 1995, Vazgen Sargsyan helped Ter-Petrosyan's Pan-Armenian National Movement win the parliamentary election and pass the constitutional referendum that gave the president more powers in appointing and dismissing key judicial and legislative officials.

Vazgen Sargsyan was joined by the two Karabakh Armenians in the government: Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan and Interior and National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

The Kocharyan cabinet, where Vazgen Sargsyan was a leading figure, called for a "package" deal, "involving a single framework accord on all contentious issues".

On 23 January 1998, during the peak of the crisis, Vazgen Sargsyan declared his unconditional support to Robert Kocharyan, and blamed the Pan-Armenian National Movement for trying to destabilize Armenia.

Vazgen Sargsyan guaranteed that the Armenian army "will not intervene in the political struggle".

Vazgen Sargsyan cited the threat of destabilization of the country as the reason of his resignation.

On 5 February 1998, Vazgen Sargsyan denied the claims of a coup d'etat and said that Ter-Petrosyan's resignation was "rather sad but natural".

Vazgen Sargsyan claimed that the president's move surprised him and that he had "been seeking common grounds with the president for the past three months".

Vazgen Sargsyan insisted that the question of "political responsibility" was the main reason behind his resignation, and stated that if Ter-Petrosyan had decided not to resign, "no one could have removed him" and that Vazgen Sargsyan would have resigned as defence minister instead.

Vazgen Sargsyan 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 ".

Vazgen Sargsyan praised Kocharyan for being part of the "struggle of the Armenian people" and criticized Demirchyan for not being part of it.

Vazgen Sargsyan urged the international community to recognize the Armenian genocide, something on which his predecessor did not place importance.

Vazgen Sargsyan was supported by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which was allowed to actively operate after Ter-Petrosyan's resignation a month before the election.

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".

Vazgen Sargsyan expressed his optimism saying that they were sure that they "will jointly change something and find the right course".

Vazgen Sargsyan stated his desire in remaining in the position of Minister of Defence.

One of the major issues Vazgen Sargsyan faces was mass emigration from Armenia, which started at the period of the decline of the Soviet regime.

Vazgen Sargsyan said that tax evasion played a role in the budget deficit.

Vazgen Sargsyan described these as "painful but right steps" for getting the necessary amount of money from the foreign lenders.

Vazgen Sargsyan pledged a "tougher crackdown on the shadow economy and more efficient governance".

Vazgen Sargsyan "was visibly the most excited of the government leaders standing on a specially built pedestal".

Vazgen Sargsyan opened the second day of the conference with his speech-report about the economic and social situation in Armenia.

Vazgen Sargsyan was the main target of the group and the other deaths were said to be unintended.

The bodies of the victims, including Vazgen Sargsyan, were placed inside the Yerevan Opera Theater.

Vazgen Sargsyan 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.

Vazgen Sargsyan insisted the shooting was assisted by the Russian secret services to bring the "Neo-Bolshevik criminal clan" of Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan into power.

Just after the shooting, the Interior and National Security Ministers Suren Abrahamyan and Serzh Vazgen Sargsyan resigned as a result of pressure from the Defence Ministry, led by Vazgen Sargsyan's ally, Vagharshak Harutiunyan at the time.

Vazgen Sargsyan admitted that Armenia has "no concept of state security" and that fact led to the assassination of his brother.

Aram Vazgen Sargsyan served in the position of the Prime Minister for only six months.

Vazgen Sargsyan was dismissed by Kocharyan on 2 May 2000, due to "inability to work" with Sargsyan's cabinet.

Vazgen Sargsyan was an optimist, and he spread hope, honesty, dedication, love for the fatherland.

Vazgen Sargsyan only saw materialism and selfishness in people and encouraging those values he remained in power, thus polluting the country.

Vazgen Sargsyan was awarded the title Hero of Artsakh, the highest award of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, in 1998.

On 27 December 1999, two months after the parliament shooting, Vazgen Sargsyan was posthumously given the title National Hero of Armenia.

Vazgen Sargsyan widely is recognized as the founder of the Armenian army.

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".

Vazgen Sargsyan's museum was opened in his hometown of Ararat on 5 March 2001 by the decision made by the Armenian government.

Vazgen Sargsyan has often ranked third, behind 20th-century military commanders Andranik and Garegin Nzhdeh, in surveys about the greatest Armenian national heroes.

Vazgen Sargsyan was generally perceived as a man of "tremendous power and charisma," known for his "brutality, temper, and nonchalant attitude toward the law".

Vazgen Sargsyan's contributions have been acknowledged by his colleagues and comrades.

In 1997, President Ter-Petrosyan stated that Vazgen Sargsyan is someone who deserves the title of National Hero of Armenia.

Manvel Grigoryan, leader of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union, recognized Vazgen Sargsyan's contributions, stating that Vazgen Sargsyan "was a strong individual and his greatness was felt not only during the war, but during the nation-building years after the war".

Vazgen Sargsyan 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 was criticized for being undemocratic, particularly for using his influence in pre-determining the election results.