Serzh Sargsyan

Starting in 1979, Sargsyan held several positions in the Stepanakert Komsomol Committee: first as division head, then second secretary and first secretary (his long-time political ally Robert Kocharyan served as his deputy).[1][14] He then became the Stepanakert City Committee Propaganda Division Head, the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee Communist Organizations' Unit Instructor, and finally became assistant to Genrikh Poghosyan, the First Secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee.[1]

In November 1989, Sargsyan was a delegate from Nagorno-Karabakh to the first congress of the Pan-Armenian National Movement.[11] He was elected to the Supreme Council of Armenia in 1990.[11] During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Sargsyan was involved in organizing the defense of Nagorno-Karabakh and the formation of the NKR Defense Army in various capacities.[15] In January 1992, when the first government of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was formed with Oleg Yesayan as prime minister, Sargsyan was appointed head of the Defense Committee, a position he held until the dissolution of the government in August 1992.[15] Sargsyan then became a member of the seven-man State Defense Committee of the NKR (effectively the government of the NKR) which was formed in August 1992.[15] Sargsyan held the position of minister of the army within the State Defense Committee.[15]

From 1993 to 1995 he served his first term as Armenia's Minister of Defense under President Levon Ter-Petrosyan.[1] In 1995 he became Minister of National Security of Armenia (initially called the State Security Department) and from 1996 to 1999 he concurrently served as Minister of Interior.[1] In February 1998, Sargsyan, along with then-Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan and Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, forced President Ter-Petrosyan to resign in order to prevent him from accepting a peace plan for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict put forward by international mediators in September 1997.[16] The proposal envisioned the return of most of the Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in exchange for security guarantees, but left the final resolution of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh for future negotiations.[17] From 1999 to 2000 he served as the Chief of Staff for President Robert Kocharyan, and then served once again as the Defense Minister of Armenia from 2000 to 2007.[1] He was also the Secretary of the National Security Council led by President Kocharyan from 1999 to 2007.[1] On 4 April 2007 Sargsyan was appointed as the Prime Minister of Armenia, following the sudden death of Andranik Margaryan.[1]

Sargsyan, with President Kocharyan's backing, was viewed as the strongest contender for the post of the President of Armenia in the February 2008 presidential election. Full provisional results showed him winning about 53% of the vote, a first round majority, well ahead of second place candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan.[18] The 2008 Presidential election was hailed as largely democratic by OSCE, the European Union (EU) and Western monitors.[19][20]

Ter-Petrosyan's supporters, disputing the official results, held large protests in Yerevan for over a week following the election, until they were violently broken up on 1 March; ten people (eight protestors and two police officers) were killed, and a state of emergency was imposed for 20 days, ending on 20 March 2008.

The start of Sargsyan's presidency coincided with the Great Recession. In 2009, Armenia's GDP contracted over 14%,[25] which according to the World Bank was the fifth worst in the world that year after the three Baltic states and Ukraine.[26] GDP growth subsequently stabilized at around 3% by 2013.[27] As of 2014, Armenia's GDP is below the pre-crisis levels. During his first term of presidency, the official poverty rate doubled and reached 32.4% in 2012.[28] According to official data, some 213,000 people have left Armenia from 2008 to 2013.[29] In 2012, Armenia was ranked 39th out of 179 economies according to the Index of Economic Freedom and ranked 19th freest among the 43 countries in the Europe region.[30]

In September 2013 and under Sargsyan's direction, Armenia announced its intentions of joining the Eurasian Economic Union with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.[31] The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU) is an economic union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on 1 January 2015.[32] Treaties aiming for Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union was signed on 9 October 2014. Armenia's accession treaty came into force on 2 January 2015.[33] The Eurasian Economic Union has an integrated single market of 176 million people and a gross domestic product of over 4 trillion U.S. dollars (PPP).[34] The EEU introduces the free movement of goods, capital, services and people and provides for common transport, agriculture and energy policies, with provisions for a single currency and greater integration in the future.[35][36]

Sargsyan made his first address in front of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2008. In his speech he referenced the 2008 South Ossetia conflict and emphasized the need for the United Nations to help bring peaceful resolution to armed conflicts around the world, including the one in Nagorno-Karabakh. He also mentioned how Azerbaijan's military buildup along with increasing war rhetoric and threats risked causing renewed problems in the South Caucasus.[37]

Sargsyan continued the policy towards the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict pursued by his predecessors, which constitutes one of the main goals of the Armenian foreign policy.[38] Sargsyan repeatedly stated that the Armenian side is interested in finding a just and exclusively peaceful solution to the conflict and that the OSCE Minsk Group is the viable format within which the peace talks should continue.[39][40][41] He continued negotiations with Azerbaijan and had a number of meetings with the president of Azerbaijan within the framework of OSCE Minsk Group. On 2 November 2008, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan traveled to Moscow for talks with Dmitry Medvedev. The talks ended in the three Presidents signing a declaration confirming their commitment to continue talks.[42] The two presidents met again in 2009 in Saint Petersburg[43] and on 22 November 2009, together with several world leaders, in Munich where President Aliyev once more threatened to resort to military force to reestablish control over the region if the two sides did not reach an agreeable settlement.[44]

Sargsyan blames the Azerbaijani side for hampering the peace process and for pursuing an openly anti-Armenian stance. According to him, the anti-Armenian policies of Azerbaijan, such as "state-supported falsifications of history", "hostile propaganda against Armenia and Armenians" and "military build-up" prove that Azerbaijan does not want peace.

The most vivid expression of anti-Armenian policies of Azerbaijan was the hero's welcome given to the convicted ax murderer Ramil Safarov who had brutally killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan during the NATO's Partnership for Peace program in Budapest in 2004. The fact that after his extradition to Azerbaijan in 2012 Safarov was pardoned by president Aliyev, promoted to the rank of major, given an apartment with over eight years of back pay and was made a national hero,[45] hampers the negotiation process and proves, in Sargsyan's words, that "the Azeri propaganda brings up an entire generation in the atmosphere of xenophobia and intolerance."[46]

Sargsyan has also clearly stated:

The Armenophobic and aggressive stance of Azerbaijan reinforces our conviction that Nagorno-Karabakh has no future within Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan has neither legal nor political or moral grounds to claim over Nagorno-Karabakh.[47]

Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev, 23 January 2012

In his speech made at the British Chatham House Sargsyan said:

Our belief is that the settlement of the Karabakh conflict should be based on human rights and the will of the Karabakh people… It is the only way to achieve lasting, feasible, and peaceful settlement. The alternative to this settlement is the forcing of the Karabakh people back into Azerbaijan, which will inevitably lead to attempts of new ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Karabakh. There is no alternative here."[48]

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Sochi, 9 August 2014

Sargsyan with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, 16 May 2016

Sargsyan in Doha, Qatar, 24 July 2017

Responding to the persistent war rhetoric of Azerbaijan, Sargsyan has condemned it as a violation of the norms of the international law, as the parties had signed a truce which Azerbaijan, the "defeated aggressor", had asked for.[49][50]

He repeatedly said that his country is categorically against the resumption of military hostilities, but at the same time is ready to counter any military aggression. In 2014, Sargsyan stated "We don't want war and never wanted, but at that time [i.e. during Nagorno-Karabakh war] we had to defend our Motherland. If the time comes again, this time our blow will be final and deadly."[51]

In this regard, Sargsyan declared that in the case of military aggression from Azerbaijan "Armenia will have no other choice but to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic de jure and to employ all its capabilities to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh."[52]

Sargsyan met with Ilham Aliyev again in Russian-mediated talks in Kazan in June 2011, where the two sides reportedly came close to an agreement.[53] The basic principles discussed at Kazan envisioned the return of five of the seven districts of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia in exchange for "interim status" for Nagorno-Karabakh and the deployment of international peacekeepers, with the final status of the region to be decided by a legally-binding referendum.[54] The proposals made at Kazan were ultimately rejected by the Azerbaijani side.[54]

In his electoral program of 2013, Sargsyan promised to increase the security guarantees of Nagorno-Karabakh and its people given Azerbaijan's policy of Armenophobia.[55] He also highlighted the importance of strengthening the defensive system of Armenia "as a factor restraining the Azerbaijani aggression and ensuring stability in the South Caucasus".[41] He also promised to take all the necessary efforts to ensure that Karabakh becomes a negotiating side in the peace talks as well as to foster the ties between Karabakh and the international community.[55]

As for the position of Armenia concerning the independence of Kosovo, Sargsyan stated that "Armenia's possible recognition of Kosovo's independence will not strain the Armenian-Russian relations" but also noted that the "Kosovo recognition issue needs serious discussion... Armenia has always been an adherent to the right of nations to self-determination and in this aspect we welcome Kosovo's independence."[56]

In April 2016, Sargsyan led Armenia through the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (also known as the Four-Day War or the April War), the most significant outbreak of violence on the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact after the 1994 ceasefire and before the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. The four days of fighting resulted in at least dozens of deaths and the loss of approximately 800 hectares of land.[57] Sargsyan described the outcome of the four-day clashes as a victory for Armenia, although he faced criticism for shortcomings during the clashes as well as accusations that he had agreed to cede territory to Azerbaijan in the wake of the fighting.[57][58][59] In order to stop this purported cession of territory, a group of armed men calling themselves "Daredevils of Sasun" seized a police headquarters in Yerevan in July 2016 and took hostages, demanding Sargsyan's resignation.[59] The crisis, which coincided with mass protests in support of the attackers, ended with the surrender of the gunmen on 31 July 2016.[59]

Reflecting on his presidency and the negotiation process after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, during which the Armenian side lost much of the territory it controlled in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsyan stated that he intended to achieve a final negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that this was the reason for his decision to remain as prime minister in 2018, which led to protests that forced his resignation.[60] He denied that he had deliberately delayed the negotiation process in order to maintain the status quo or that he had ever held the view that "not one inch of land" could be handed over to Azerbaijan in order to resolve the conflict.[60] He added that he was "ready to bear the label of traitor, but resolve the [Nagorno-Karabakh] question."[60]

Having been elected as a president for his first term in 2008, Sargsyan pledged to continue Armenia's policy towards Turkey, to normalize relations without any preconditions while continuing to strive for international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide.[61]

Coming to power, Sargsyan took steps towards the normalization of ties with Turkey, a policy termed as "football diplomacy". In 2008, Sargsyan took a historical initiative to invite Turkish President Abdullah Gül to Armenia to watch a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Armenia and Turkey.[62] Abdullah Gül attended the game in Armenia while Serzh Sargsyan made a reciprocal visit to Turkey to watch the second match.[63]

On 10 October 2009 the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey signed protocols on establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries without any preconditions. The accord also presupposed the opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey which had been closed by Turkey in 1993.[64][65] The protocols were signed in Geneva, Switzerland under the international mediation, chiefly that of the United States.

Sargsyan's policy of rapprochement with Turkey received controversial reaction among the Armenian people. While one part was for the opening of the border and fostering trade with Turkey the other part was concerned that by this move Armenia would be forced to make concessions to Turkey in the most vital and strategic matters. Armenian influential opposition parties, most notably the Armenian Revolutionary Federation were categorically against the signing of the protocols, given the recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border and the setting up of a joint commission of historians researching the Armenian Genocide, as envisioned by the protocols. They considered these steps as a sellout and staged mass protests against the signing of the protocols.[66] The Armenian Diaspora was also largely opposed to this type of reconciliation with Turkey, arguing (despite Sargsyan's assurances to the contrary) that this would jeopardize the international recognition of the Armenian genocide as well as the prospects of legitimate territorial claims of Armenians from Turkey.[67]

The process of reconciliation, however, was suspended after a year. In Armenia, before sending the protocols to the parliament, it was sent to the Constitutional Court to have their approval. The Constitutional Court made references to the preamble of the protocols underlying three main issues.[68] One of them stated that the implementation of the protocols did not imply Armenia's official recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border established by the Treaty of Kars. By doing so, the Constitutional Court rejected one of the main premises of the protocols, i.e. "the mutual recognition of the existing border between the two countries as defined by relevant treaties of international law".[68][69] This was regarded by the Turkish Government as effectively revising the protocols and thus the reason to back down from the process.[70] As a consequence, the Turkish Parliament did not ratify the protocols.[71] The Armenian side accused Turkey to tie the reconciliation process with the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, expecting concessions on the Armenian side, which was unacceptable for the latter. Sargsyan explained the suspension of the reconciliation process by the Armenian side in the following way:

For a whole year, Turkey's senior officials have not spared public statements in the language of preconditions. For a whole year, Turkey has done everything to protract time and fail the process... We consider unacceptable the pointless efforts of making the dialogue between Armenia and Turkey an end in itself; from this moment on, we consider the current phase of normalization exhausted."[71]

Sargsyan however has also stated that unlike Ankara, Yerevan remains committed to its initiative to normalizing relations with Turkey.[41]

Sargsyan with President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and the President of the European People's Party Wilfried Martens at the European People's Party Eastern Partnership Leaders' Summit in Yerevan, 30 November 2012

President Sargsyan supported Armenia's efforts to ink an Association Agreement with the EU, which contains a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, for several years. Under his presidency, the negotiations for the agreement were completed and Armenia was set to sign the agreement at an upcoming EU Summit. However, President Sargsyan made a drastic policy reversal when in September 2013, after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, he opted to join the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. It was widely believed that Russian pressure and threats killed Armenia's deal with the EU. Even though such a reversal was made, President Sargsyan's administration was determined to further EU inspired reforms in law and governance, and this led to Armenia signing the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union on 24 November 2017. Behind the scenes, Russia granted approval to Armenia to sign the deal after any economic provisions were removed from the deal.[72][73][74][75]

Major protests against Sargsyan's regime began in 2011, with the president's 2008 rival Levon Ter-Petrosyan at their helm.[76][77][78][79] In a concession to protesters, Sargsyan said on 20 April 2011 that the government would recommit to a thorough investigation of the post-election violence of three years prior.[80]

In July 2016, thousands of Armenians protested in the capital Yerevan in support of the "Daredevils of Sasun," an armed group that stormed police headquarters in Yerevan and took hostages while calling for the release of all political prisoners and the resignation of president Serzh Sargsyan.[81] The National Security Service of Armenia called the takeover (which resulted in the deaths of three policemen) a terrorist attack, but a growing number of Armenians disagreed with that assessment.[81]

Other transcriptions of his given name are Serge and Serj, of the surname Sarkissian, Sarkisyan, Sargsyan, Sarkissyan, the transliteration is Serž Azati Sargsyan (see Romanization of Armenian). His name during the Soviet era was Russified as Serzh Azatovich Sargsyan (Серж Аза́тович Саргся́н).