MEET THE LEADER: SERZH SARGSYAN
By Metro Eireann
Thursday, February 26, 2009, 17:58
Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
may share the same surname, but the two are not related. This is not
unusual, as Sargsyan is a very common name in Armenia.
President Sargsyan was born in the Nagorno-Karabakh region – a small
strip of land that is at the centre of a bitter dispute between
Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The region gave modern Armenia many of
its prominent public figures, and the tensions there have served to
forge the country’s identity.
After studying in Yerevan, Sargsyan worked in his hometown of
Stepanakert as a metal turner in a factory. At the same time he was
making rapid advancement in the local branch of the Communist Party. By
1988, Sargsyan had risen to assistant of the First Secretary of the
party’s regional committee in Nagorno-Karabakh.
But then the war with Azerbaijan broke out, which propelled Sargsyan
into prominent positions within Armenia’s elite. As tensions arose,
the future president – who had completed training in the Soviet army –
became chairman of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic self-defence forces
committee. He organised several battles during the war and is now
considered to be one of the founders not only of Nagorno-Karabakh’s
army, but also of the Armenian armed forces.
In 1993 Sargsyan became Armenian defence=2 0minister. Six years
later, President Robert Kocharyan, also from Nagorno-Karabakh, made
Sargsyan his chief of staff. In 2007 Sargsyan rose to the post of
prime minister and ran for presidential election that same year with
the full backing of President Kocharyan (he was succeeded as prime
minister by Tigran Sargsyan).
Officially, Sargsyan won that election by a large margin, but the
opposition disputed this and accused Sargsyan’s party, the Republican
Party of Armenia, of vote-rigging, vote-buying and manipulation of
the media.
Protests ensued which were violently suppressed. Eight people were
killed by police and a media blackout followed.
On 9 April 2008, as he was being sworn into office, Sargsyan spoke of
the "painful events" which arose as a result of the opposition protest.
He said: "I urge everybody to look forward, together, to seek and
find the way for reconciliation, development and future of Armenia."