7 Years On — 27 October 1999
State Funeral of Vazgen Sarkisyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 1999
RFE/RL reports that the relatives of those slain in the 27 October 1999 terrorist attack on the Armenian National Assembly still believe that there was a high level cover-up to conceal the identity of those behind the assassination of several high level government officials. Among those killed were then Prime Minister, Vazgen Sarkisyan, and Speaker of Parliament, former Soviet era leader of Armenia Karen Demirchyan.
The eight men were shot dead on October 27, 1999 moments after gunmen led by an obscure former journalist, Nairi Hunanian, burst into the National Assembly and sprayed it with bullets. Although all five gunmen were arrested the next day and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2003, there are still nagging questions about whether they acted alone or had some powerful backers. Military prosecutors that investigated the shootings appeared to believe in the latter theory, arresting but subsequently releasing several other individuals, including President Robert Kocharian’s former chief of staff.
[…]
Friends and relatives of Sarkisian and Demirchian, whose Miasnutyun (Unity) alliance swept to a landslide victory in the May 1999 parliamentary elections, were quick to point the finger at Kocharian, triggering a bitter power struggle that ended in the president’s victory in May 2000. They continue to suspect Kocharian and his chief lieutenant, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, of involvement in the crime, citing the authorities’ controversial handling of the criminal inquiry and the ensued trial. Kocharian and his political allies have repeatedly rejected such suggestions.
“The trial only deepened, rather than dispelled the public’s suspicions, and the severe consequences of October 27 continue to be felt today,” Demirchian’s son Stepan, who was Kocharian’s main challenger in the 2003 presidential election, said after laying flowers at his hugely popular father’s grave. “The authorities have done everything not to establish the truth and to cover up the crime,” he told reporters.
Sarkisian’s brother Aram, who leads the radical opposition Hanrapetutyun, was careful not to directly implicate anyone in the bloodbath, but made no secret of his suspicions. “They did nothing to prevent October 27, and they did everything not to solve the crime,” he said.
Anahit Bakhshian, the wife of the assassinated vice-speaker Yuri Bakhshian, went farther, claiming that one should look for the “organizers” of the parliament attack within Armenia’s current leadership.
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, who had accused the Kocharian camp of obstructing justice before being name prime minister in May 2000, shrugged off the statement. “She repeats the same thing each year,” he said. “If such suspicions had been substantiated, the organizers would have already been identified.”
The full article is available here, and I’ll try to post more on the seventh anniversary with photographs from the State Funeral for the victims over the weekend. In the meantime, A1 Plus has an excerpt from video of the assassinations here. In the seven years since the assassinations I had forgotten how savage the killings were, but this video clip quickly brings back memories of that day and its aftermath.
Internews also has a chronology of events from October 1999 here.
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 1999
RFE/RL’s Press Review summarizes newspaper coverage of the 7th Anniversary of the 27 October 1999 assassinations.
Comment by Onnik — October 29, 2006 @ 9:10 pm
RFE/RL’s Press Review now has more on the 7th Anniversary:
Comment by Onnik — October 30, 2006 @ 11:51 pm