Levon Ter-Petrossian

Levon Ter-Petrossian (Armenian: Լևոն Տեր-Պետրոսյան; Russian: Левон Тер-Петросян) (born January 9, 1945), sometimes transliterated Levon Ter-Petrosyan or Ter-Petrosian (with or without the hyphen), was the first President of Armenia from 1991 to 1998. Due to some economic and political problems, he resigned on February 3, 1998 and was succeeded by Robert Kocharyan.

Early life and career

Ter-Petrossian was born in Aleppo, Syria to an Armenian-Syrian family of genocide survivors. They emigrated to Armenia in 1946.

In 1968, Ter-Petrossian graduated from the Oriental Studies Department of the Yerevan State University. In 1972, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Leningrad State University. In 1987, he received his doctoral degree from the same university. In 1972-1978, Ter-Petrossian worked as junior researcher at the Literature Institute of Armenia named after Manouk Abeghian. In 1978-1985, he held the post of science secretary at Matenadaran named after Saint Mesrob Mashdots. Since 1985, Ter-Petrossian has been working at Matenadaran as a senior researcher.

He is married to Lyudmila Ter-Petrossian. They have one son, David Ter-Petrossian, and three grandchildren.

Ter-Petrossian is fluent in Armenian, Assyrian,^[1] Russian, French, English, German, Arabic and some extinct languages. He is the author of more than 70 scholarly publications in Armenian, Russian and French. He is also a member of the Writers Union of Armenia, the French Asian Society, the Venice Mkhitarian Academy and a recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of La Verne, University of Sofia, Sorbonne University and University of Strasbourg.

Ter-Petrossian's political career started in the 1960s. In 1966 he was arrested for his active participation in an April 24 demonstration. In February 1988, he led Matenadaran's Karabakh committee. In May of the same year, he became involved with the Armenian Committee of the Karabakh movement. From December 10, 1988, to May 31, 1989, he was under arrest in Matrosskaya Tishina together with other members of the Karabakh Committee.

In 1989, Ter-Petrossian was elected Member of the Board of the Pan-Armenian National Movement. Later on, he became the Chairman of the Board.

On August 27, 1989, he was elected as deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR. He was re-elected as deputy on May 20, 1990. On August 4 of the same year, he became Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia.^[2]

Term as President

Ter-Petrossian was popularly elected the first President of the newly-independent Republic of Armenia on October 16, 1991 and re-elected on September 22, 1996. His re-election was marred by allegations of electoral fraud reported by the opposition and supported by many international observers. His popularity waned further as the opposition started blaming him for the economic quagmire that Armenia's post-Soviet economy was in. He was also unpopular with one party in particular, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which he banned and jailed its leadership, on the grounds that the party had a foreign-based leadership—something which was forbidden according to the Armenian Constitution.

Resignation

He was forced to step down in February 1998 after advocating compromised settlement of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh which many Armenians regarded as undermining their security. Ter-Petrossian's key ministers, led by then-Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan, refused to accept a peace plan for Karabakh put forward by international mediators in September 1997. The plan, accepted by Ter-Petrossian and Azerbaijan, called for a "phased" settlement of the conflict which would postpone an agreement on Karabakh's status, the main stumbling block. That agreement was to accompany the return of most Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani territories around Karabakh and the lifting of the Azerbaijani and Turkish blockades of Armenia.

Comeback

Since his resignation, Ter-Petrossian rarely appeared in public and avoided contact with the media, although there were speculations that he would run for the office of president of Armenia in the general election in February 2003. He instead devoted his time to scientific research. In 2005-2007 Ter-Petrossian published two volumes of his "The Crusaders and Armenians" historico-political research.

On September 21, 2007, Ter-Petrossian gave his first public speech in nearly ten years at an event in Yerevan marking the 16th anniversary of Armenia's declaration of independence. In this speech he was strongly critical of Kocharyan. Subsequently, Ter-Petrossian officially announced his candidacy in the 2008 presidential election in a speech in Yerevan on 26 October 2007. He accused Kocharyan's government of massive corruption, involving the theft of "at least three to four billion dollars" over the previous five years. He was critical of the government's claims of strong economic growth and argued that Kocharyan and his Prime Minister, Serge Sargsyan, had come to accept a solution to the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh that was effectively the same solution that he had proposed ten years earlier. A number of opposition parties have rallied behind him since his return to the political arena, including the People's Party of Armenia led by Stepan Demirchian, Armenian Republic Party led by Aram Sargsyan,^[3] Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, "Azadakrum" movement for Jirair Sefilian, "New Times" Party and the Heritage Party, led by Raffi Hovannisian.^[4]

Protests

Final results from the election, which was held on February 19, 2008, officially showed Ter-Petrossian in second place with 21.5% of the vote. Then he and his supporters accused the government of rigging the election and claimed victory;^[5] beginning on February 20, he led continuous protests involving tens of thousands of his supporters in Yerevan.^[6] On the early morning of March 1, reportedly acting on evidence of firearms in the camp, the authorities moved in to inspect the tents set up by demonstrators. Law enforcement agents then violently dispersed the hundreds of protestors camped in. Ter-Petrossian was placed under de facto house arrest, not being allowed to leave his home, though the authorities later denied the allegations.^[7] A few hours later, tens of thousands of protestors or more gathered at Miyasnikyan Square to protest the government's act. Police, overwhelmed by the sheer size of the crowd, pulled out. A state of emergency was implemented by President Kocharyan at 5pm, allowing the army to be moved into the capital. At night, a few thousand protestors barricaded themselves using commandeered municipal buses. As a result of skirmishes with the police, ten people died.^[8]

In 2011, Ter-Petrossian again took a leading role in protests that erupted in Armenia as part of a wave of regional unrest.^[9] As leader of the Armenian National Congress opposition bloc, formed two years prior to the outbreak of protests, Ter-Petrossian accused President Serzh Sargsyan, elected in the disputed 2008 election, of being "illegitimate" and called for the release of political prisoners, the resignation of the government, and a full inquiry into the violence that claimed the lives of ten of his supporters in 2008.^[10][11]

Filmography

• 2002: The manuscript of independence (Matyan Ankakhutyan)(Մատյան Անկախության), a documentary, which was dedicated to the 10th anniversary of independence of Armenia (1991–2001). Director - Levon Mkrtchyan.

References

External links

• "Payqar" (Struggle) official newspaper
• Official Presidential site of Armenia
• Levon Ter Petrosian Announces Presidential Candidacy