Vazgen Sargsyan

Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan (, ; 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 First 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 Armenian forces controlling almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts.

In the post-war years, Sargsyan tightened his grip on the Armed Forces of Armenia, establishing himself as a virtual strongman. After strongly supporting Ter-Petrosyan to retain power in 1996, he forced the president out of office in 1998 due to the latter's support for concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement negotiations, and helped Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan to be elected president. After his relations with Kocharyan 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. 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.

Early life and career

Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan was born in Ararat village, Soviet Armenia, near the Turkish border, on 5 March 1959, to Greta and Zaven Sargsyan. His ancestors had moved to Ararat from Maku, northern Iran, following the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28. After finishing secondary school in his village, he attended the Yerevan Institute of Physical Culture from 1976 to 1979. He worked as a physical education teacher at the secondary school in Ararat from 1979 to 1983. Therefore, he was exempt from conscription in the Soviet army. From 1983 to 1986, he was the Young Communist League (Komsomol) leader at the Ararat Cement Factory. From 1986 to 1989, he headed the publicity department of the (, "Spring") literary monthly in Yerevan. In 1986, his first book, ' (, Bread temptation), was published, for which he was awarded by the Armenian Komsomol.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Early stages and independence of Armenia

The relative democratization of the Soviet regime under Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika policies since the mid-1980s gave rise to nationalism in the republics of the Soviet Union. In Armenia, the Karabakh movement gained widespread public support. Armenians demanded the Soviet authorities unify the mostly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) of Azerbaijan with Armenia. In February 1988, the NKAO regional legislature requested the transfer of the region from the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan SSR to Armenian SSR, but it was rejected by the Politburo. Tensions between Armenians and Azerbaijanis further escalated with the pogrom in Sumgait. With both groups arming themselves, clashes became frequent, especially in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh and the border areas of the two Soviet republics. In 1989 and 1990, Sargsyan took the command of Armenian volunteer groups fighting near Yeraskh, on the Armenian-Azerbaijani (Nakhchivan) border, not far from his hometown. Sargsyan was elected to the Armenian parliament (the Supreme Council) in the May 1990 election. Although Armenia had proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union on 23 August 1990, it was not until on 21 September 1991, a month after the failed August Coup in Moscow, when the overwhelming majority of Armenians voted for independence in a nationwide referendum. Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the leader of the Karabakh Committee and the head of the Supreme Council since 1990, was elected president of Armenia in October.

Active military involvement

Due to the fact that Sargsyan was popular among Armenian volunteer units and army officers, he was appointed the first defense minister of independent Armenia by President Ter-Petrosyan in December 1991. On 28 January 1992, the Armenian government passed the historical decree "On the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia," which formally created the Armed Forces of Armenia. With the rise of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, in March 1992, Sargsyan announced that Armenia needed a 30,000-strong army for maintaining security. On 9 May 1992, the Armenian forces recorded their first major military success in Nagorno-Karabakh with the capture of Shushi. Another significant victory for the Armenian forces was recorded weeks later with the capture of Lachin, which connects Armenia proper with Nagorno-Karabakh.

In summer 1992, the situation turned critical for the Armenian forces following the launch of Operation Goranboy, during which Azerbaijan took control of northern half of Nagorno-Karabakh. On 15 August 1992, 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. In a televised speech he stated:

Vazgen Sargsyan's other brother, Armen, supported Serzh Sargsyan in the 2013 presidential election. On 5 March 2013, Aram Sargsyan was asked about his brother Armen's political stance, to which he responded, "I would very much like to ask Vazgen that question. I don't know what he would have answered. There are very few questions to which I don't know what Vazgen's answer would be. Unfortunately, our friends and relatives are not always the way we want them to be. I am not the first one, neither am I the last one; the history of the world is full of such examples starting from the Bible."

Legacy and tribute

thumb|left|Vazgen Sargsyan's memorial in [[Yerablur]]

thumb|Statue of Sargsyan in Yerevan

Vazgen Sargsyan was awarded the title Hero of Artsakh, the highest award of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, in 1998. He widely is recognized as the founder of the Armenian army.

A presidential decree issued on 28 December 1999 renamed the Yerevan Military Academy to the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University in his honor. The Republican Stadium in Yerevan was named after Vazgen Sargsyan by the same decree. The 8th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Artsakh Defence Army is named after him. Numerous streets in Armenia and Karabakh, and in Stepanakert, and a park in Kapan are named after Sargsyan. Statues or busts have been erected in his honor in Yerevan (2007), Ararat (2009), Vanadzor, Kapan (2015), Vagharshapat (Ejmiatsin, 2015), Shushi (Shushi) and other locations. In 2000, 27 October was declared a day of remembrance by the Armenian government. 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".

thumb|Sargsyan's Museum in Ararat

Every year, on 5 March (his birthday) and 27 October (the day of his assassination), Sargsyan is commemorated in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. His comrades from the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union, high state officials and many others visit the Yerablur cemetery, where Sargsyan is buried next to many Armenian military figures.

Vazgen Sargsyan's museum was opened in his hometown of Ararat on 5 March 2001 by the decision made by the Armenian government. Notable attendees of the opening ceremony of the museum included Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, National Assembly Speaker Armen Khachatryan, Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan, and other high-ranking military and diplomatic representatives, such as the former Russian minister of defence Pavel Grachev, who revealed in his speech at the ceremony that Sargsyan was once his student.

Sargsyan is often referred to as Sparapet, a military rank that has existed since the ancient Kingdom of Armenia. The phrase (literally meaning 'Supreme Commander of the Armenians') is engraved on Sargsyan's memorial in Yerablur cemetery. The song "Sparapet" by Alla Levonyan is dedicated to his memory.

Public image and recognition

In Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and, to a lesser extent, in the Armenian diaspora, Sargsyan is widely considered a charismatic leader. He was generally perceived as a man of "tremendous power and charisma," known for his "brutality, temper, and nonchalant attitude toward the law".

thumb|left|Sargsyan on a 2000 post stamp

His contributions have been acknowledged by his colleagues and comrades. In 1997, President Ter-Petrosyan stated that Sargsyan is someone who deserves the title of National Hero of Armenia. He added that "if all members of our government worked as conscientiously and selflessly as Vazgen Sargsyan, we would live in a perfect state." Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan said in his speech during Sargsyan's funeral, "history will provide its assessment of Vazgen Sargsyan as a politician who stood at the birth of the Armenian state. His role in the creation of the national army is beyond appraisal. By his life and commitment, Vazgen Sargsyan has made an immense contribution to the establishment of a powerful country."

thumb|Sargsyan's statue in [[Shushi (Shushi), vandalized and destroyed after the 2020 war.]]

Manvel Grigoryan, leader of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union, recognized Sargsyan's contributions, stating that Sargsyan "was a strong individual and his greatness was felt not only during the war, but during the nation-building years after the war". According to Grigoryan "his presence was enough for the foreign leaders to become vigilant." Dr. Ara Sanjian, the director of the Armenian Studies at the Haigazian University, wrote shortly after Sargsyan's assassination:

thumb|Vazgen Sargsyan Street in central Yerevan

In the West, Sargsyan was generally described as a hard nationalist. The British journalist Jonathan Steele wrote of Sargsyan as "a fierce nationalist who always preferred action and force to words and diplomacy". Encyclopædia Britannica describes Sargsyan as an "Armenian nationalist who devoted much of his life to the Armenian fight with Azerbaijan for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave". Political scientist Razmik Panossian expressed the opinion that he was "the last significant nationalist politician whose commitment to Karabakh and Armenia was not doubted by anyone".

Criticism

Sargsyan was criticized for being undemocratic, particularly for using his influence in pre-determining the election results. carried out, allegedly, by Yerkrapah.

Thomas de Waal describes Sargsyan as an "emerging feudal baron." The Yerkrapah, founded by Sargsyan, "took over large areas of the economy." Astourian quoted David Petrosyan, a columnist for the news agency and a "thoughtful observer of Armenia's political life", as claiming that Sargsyan "controlled part of the local market in oil products, part of the incomes generated from transport junctions and the greater part of bread production." According to Philip Remler, Sargsyan was one of the prime beneficiaries of the illicit income from the Iran-Armenia border and the "godfather of cross-border trade and contraband".

References

Bibliography

External links

;Images

Vazgen Sargsya's pictures from early 1990s at ankakhutyun.am

;Documentary videos

;Films

by A1plus
by the Public Television of Armenia
by the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union
by Eduard Hambardzumyan, 2010
an excerpt from the news on 5 March 2013, by Shant TV
by Armenia TV, May 2013

;Music