National United Party (Armenia)

National United Party
Leader Haykaz Khachatryan (founder)
Paruyr Hayrikyan (1973-1987)
Founded 1966
Headquarters Yerevan
Membership unknown, including about 100 (youth member)
Ideology Nationalism, democracy

The National United Party (Armenian: Ազգային Միացյալ Կուսակցություն; Russian: Национальная объединённая партия) was an Armenian nationalist underground political party in the Soviet Union. It operated from 1966 until 1987, when it was renamed into Union for National Self-Determination (UNSD), which became the first democratic party in the USSR.[1]

History

The National United Party was founded on April 24, 1966, by Armenian painter Haykaz Khachatryan, Stepan Zatikyan and Shahen Harutyunyan. When the founders of the party were imprisoned in 1968, Paruyr Hayrikyan becomes head of the National United Party (NUP). The main goals of (NUP) were independence of Soviet Armenia, the establishment of democracy and the elimination of the consequences of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923). In 1973, the National United Party re-elected Hayrikyan as its president. In the same year, Hayrikyan wrote his political programm, "The Road to Independence through Referendum Strategy." Many prominent figures of independent Armenia, including Ashot Navasardyan, Movses Gorgisyan and Andranik Margaryan, were former members of the National United Party.

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