Robert Kocharyan

Robert Sedraki Kocharyan (Armenian: Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան, pronounced [ɾobɛɹtʼ sɛdɹɑkʼi kʰotʃʰɑɹjɑn]) (born August 31, 1954) was the second President of Armenia, serving from 1998 till 2008. He was previously President of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Armenia from 1997 to 1998.

Biography

Robert Kocharyan was born in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, at that time the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic^[1]. He received his secondary education there and from 1972 to 1974 served in the Soviet Army. He and his wife, Bella Kocharyan, have three children: Sedrak, Gayane, and Levon, all of whom were born in Stepanakert.

Career timeline

• 1972-1974 – served in the Soviet Army
• 1975-1976 – labor activities in different enterprises in Stepanakert and Moscow
• 1977-1982 – electrical engineering faculty of Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute. Diploma with excellence.
• 1980-1981 – worked as an mechanical engineer at the electrical engineering plant in Stepanakert
• 1981-1985 – worked at different positions at Municipal committee in Stepanakert town committee of the Komsomol Union, including the post of assistant secretary
• 1986 – instructor of town committee of Stepanakert Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• 1987-1989 – head of Karabakh Soviet party organization of the silk factory
• 19 February 1988 – leader of the Artsakh movement, which fought for secession from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and for later union with Armenia; member of group Krunk; led the Miatsum organization
• 1989-1995 – twice elected as a deputy of Supreme Council of Republic of Armenia, and member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
• 1991-1992 deputy of the Supreme Union of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in its first convocation
• from August 1992 – appointed chairman of the State Committee of Defense and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
• 24 November 1994 – elected President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by its Supreme Union, and in November 1996 in the result of national election was reelected as the President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
• March 1997 – Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
• February 1998 – after resignation of Levon Ter-Petrosyan was temporarily the acting president
• March 1998 – elected as President of Armenia, with 59.5% of votes
• 27 October 1999 – personally negotiated with the armed attackers in the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting and persuaded them to surrender
• 25 January 2001 - the Republic of Armenia becomes a member of the Council of Europe
• September 2001 – audience with Pope John Paul II during official Papal visit to Armenia
• 2003 – Republic of Armenia became a member of World Trade Organization
• March 2003 – reelected as President of Armenia , getting 67.5 % of votes
• 20 January 2004 – The Republic of Armenia became a member of the group of countries against corruption.
• 27 November 2005 – According to the results of whole nation referendum the constitution of Armenia was reformed.
• In 2005 – GDP became 120% from the level of 1993.
• In 2005 – US State Department recognized the Trade and investing policy of Armenia the most open among countries of NIS.
• In 2006 – rates of growth of investment (24%) approximately were higher than the same indexes of 1998 (5.2%).
• 7 February 2007 – the strategy of National security of the Republic of Armenia was accepted.
• 19 March 2007 - the Iran–Armenia gas pipeline was opened
• In 2007 – the North Avenue was built in Armenia
• In 2008 – the U.S. thinktank The Heritage Foundation, rated Armenia at 28th place in their list of countries with the most open economy, and 15th place among 41 European countries. Lebanon, Belgium, France, Argentine, Sweden, legislatively adopted resolutions on the Armenian Genocide
• April 2008 – retired at the end of his Presidency
• 1998-2007 – average annual rate of growth of GDP rises to 10.5%; in 2007 GDP of Armenia exceeded the rate for 1989 by 46,9%
• 1997-2008 - completion of renovation of "disaster zone" – towns and villages, damaged by the 1988 Spitak earthquake
• June 2009 – appointed as a director of AFK Sistema, a Russian company that controls Armenia’s largest mobile phone operator^[2]

Presidency

After the sudden resignation of his predecessor Levon Ter-Petrossian, Kocharyan was elected Armenia's second President on March 30, 1998, defeating his main rival, Karen Demirchyan, in an early presidential election marred by irregularities and violations as reported by international electoral observers. Complaints included that Kocharyan had not been an Armenian citizen for ten years as required by the constitution.,^[3] even though it would have been impossible for him to be a 10 year citizen of a republic that was less than 7 years old; however, the Armenian constitution recognized the Armenian SSR as it predecessor state.

During his presidency, several opposition leaders in the Armenian Parliament and the Prime Minister of Armenia were killed by gunmen in an epsiode known as the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting.

2003 election

The 2003 Armenian Presidential election on 19 February and 5 March 2003. No candidate received a majority in the first round of the election with the incumbent President Kocharyan winning slightly under 50% of the vote. Therefore a second round was held and Kocharyan defeated Stepan Demirchyan with official results showed him winning just over 67% of the vote.

In both rounds, electoral observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported significant amounts of electoral fraud and numerous supporters of Demirchyan were arrested before the second round took place.^[4] Demirchyan described the election as having being rigged and called on his supporters to rally against the results.^[5] Tens of thousands of Armenians protested in the days after the election against the results and called on President Kocharyan to step down.^[4] However Kocharyn was sworn in for a second term in early April and the constitutional court upheld the election, while recommending that a referendum be held within a year to confirm the election result.^[6][7]

2008 election

A presidential election was held in Armenia on 19 February 2008. The incumbent President Kocharyan, who was ineligible for a third consecutive term^[8], backed the candidacy of Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan^[9].

Following the election result, protests organized by supporters of unsuccessful candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian began in Yerevan's Freedom Square. On March 1, the demonstrators were violently dispersed by police and military forces, killing at least 10 people, and President Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency^[10]. This was followed by mass arrests and purges of prominent members of the opposition, as well as a de facto ban on any further anti-government protests.^[11][12]

Foreign policy

President Vladimir Putin with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan

As President, Kocharyan continued to negotiate a peaceful resolution with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Talks between Aliyev and Kocharyan were held in September 2004 in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit. Reportedly, one of the suggestions put forward was the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the Azeri territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, and holding referendums (plebiscites) in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan proper regarding the future status of the region. On February 10–11, 2006, Kocharyan and Aliyev met in Rambouillet, France to discuss the fundamental principles of a settlement to the conflict, including the withdrawal of troops, formation of international peace keeping troops, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.^[13]

During the weeks and days before the talks in France, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen expressed cautious optimism that some form of an agreement was possible. French President Jacques Chirac met with both leaders separately and expressed hope that the talks would be fruitful. Contrary to the initial optimism, the Rambouillet talks did not produce any agreement, with key issues such as the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and whether Armenian troops would withdraw from Kalbajar still being contentious. The next session of the talks was held in March 2006 in Washington, D.C.^[13] Russian President, Vladimir Putin applied pressure to both parties to settle the disputes.^[14] Later in 2006 there was a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Minsk on 28 November and ministerial meetings were held in Moscow. "These talks did not initiate any progress, but I hope that the time for a solution will come" said Peter Semneby, EU envoy for the South Caucasus.^[15]

In September 2006, in his congratulatory message^[16] on the occasion of 15th anniversary of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Kocharyan said "The Karabakhi people made their historic choice, defended their national interests in the war that was forced upon them. Today, they are building a free and independent state." The accompanying message said that the duty of the Republic of Armenia and all Armenians is to contribute to the strengthening and development of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as to the international recognition of the republic's independence.^[17]

References

External links

• Official Presidential Site of Armenia
• Article at armeniapedia.org
• Robert Kocharyan

Leaders of Armenia since 1918 Chairmen of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918-1920) Avetis Aharonyan · Avetik Sahakyan · Avetis Aharonyan First secretaries of the Communist Party of the Armenian SSR (1920-1991) Sergey Lukashin · Ashot Hovhannisyan · Haik Ovsepyan · Aykaz Kostanyan · Aghasi Khanjian · Amatuni Vartapetyan · Grigory Arutyunov · Suren Tovmasyan · Yakov Zarobyan · Anton Kochinyan · Karen Demirchyan · Suren Harutyunyan · Vladimir Movsisyan · Stepan Pogosyan · Aram Sargsyan Presidents of the Republic of Armenia (1991-) Levon Ter-Petrossian · Robert Kocharyan · Serzh Sargsyan

Prime Ministers of Armenia Democratic Republic of Armenia Hovhannes Katchaznouni  · Alexander Khatisyan  · Hamo Ohanjanyan  · Simon Vratsian Transcaucasian SFSR and Armenian SSR Sergey Lukashin · Sarkis Ambartsumyan · Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan · Abram Guloyan · Sarkis Ambartsumyan · Stepan Akopyan · Aram Piruzyan · Agasi Sarkisyan · Saak Karapetyan · Shmavon Arusanyan · Saak Karapetyan · Anton Kochinyan · Badal Muradyan · Grigory Arzumanyan · Fadey Sarkisyan · Vladimir Markaryants · Vazgen Manukyan Armenia Vazgen Manukyan · Gagik Harutyunyan · Khosrov Harutyunyan · Hrant Bagratyan · Armen Sargsyan · Robert Kocharyan · Armen Darbinyan · Vazgen Sargsyan · Aram Sargsyan · Andranik Margaryan · Serzh Sargsyan · Tigran Sargsyan

Prime Ministers of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Oleg Yesayan  · Robert Kocharyan  · Leonard Petrosyan  · Zhirayr Poghosyan  · Anushavan Danielyan  · Arayik Harutyunyan