Vazgen Sargsyan, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Vazgen Sargsyan

military commander, politician

Date of Birth: 05-Mar-1959

Place of Birth: Ararat, Ararat Province, Armenia

Date of Death: 27-Oct-1999

Profession: military personnel, politician, prosaist

Nationality: Armenia

Zodiac Sign: Pisces


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About Vazgen Sargsyan

  • Vazgen Sargsyan (Armenian: ?????? ????????, pronounced [v?z'g?n s??k?s'j?n]; 5 March 1959 – 27 October 1999) was an Armenian military commander and politician.
  • He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1995 to 1999.
  • He served as Armenia's Prime Minister from 11 June 1999 until his assassination on 27 October of that year.
  • He 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.
  • Appointed Defence Minister by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan soon after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in late 1991, Sargsyan became the most prominent commander of Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
  • In different positions, he regulated the military operations in the war area until 1994, when a ceasefire was reached ending the war with the de facto unification of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with Armenia. In the post-war years, Sargsyan tightened his grip on the Armed Forces, establishing himself as a virtual strongman.
  • After strongly supporting Ter-Petrosyan to retain power, he forced the president out of office in 1998 due to his support for concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement negotiations, and helped Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan to be elected president.
  • With their relations deteriorated, Sargsyan merged the influential war veterans group Yerkrapah into the Republican Party and joined forces with Armenia's ex-communist leader Karen Demirchyan.
  • In the May 1999 elections, their reform-minded alliance secured a comfortable majority in the National Assembly.
  • Sargsyan became prime minister, emerging as the de facto decision-maker in Armenia with effective control of the military and the legislature.Sargsyan, along with Demirchyan and several others, was assassinated in the Armenian parliament shooting of 27 October 1999.
  • The perpetrators were sentenced to life in prison.
  • However, the distrust toward the trial process gave birth to a number of conspiracy theories.
  • Some experts and politicians argue that their assassination was masterminded by Kocharyan and National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan.
  • Others have suspected the possible involvement of foreign powers in the shooting. Despite his mixed legacy, Sargsyan is now widely recognized as a national hero across the political spectrum and by the public.
  • Given the honorific Sparapet, he made significant contributions to the establishment of Armenia as independent state and ensuring its security as the founder of the Armenian Army.
  • He has also been criticized by human rights organizations for being undemocratic, especially for his role in elections.
  • Sargsyan was awarded the highest titles of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh—National Hero of Armenia and Hero of Artsakh.

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