Armenian parliament shooting

File:Վազգեն Սարգսյան.jpg, formerly an influential Minister of Defense, was the main target of the shooting.]]

On 27 October 1999, at around 5:15 p.m., five men led by journalist Nairi Hunanyan, armed with Kalashnikov AK-47 rifles hidden under long coats, broke into the National Assembly Building in Yerevan, while the government was holding a question-and-answer session. They fatally shot eight people:{{cite news|title=Armenian commemorating victims of act of terrorism October 27, 1999|url=http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/8998/|agency=PanARMENIAN.Net|date=27 October 2003}}

• Vazgen Sargsyan, Prime Minister (the target)
• Karen Demirchyan, National Assembly Speaker
• Yuri Bakhshyan, Deputy National Assembly Speaker
• Ruben Miroyan, Deputy National Assembly Speaker
• Leonard Petrosyan, Minister of Urgent Affairs
• Henrik Abrahamyan, Member of Parliament
• Armenak Armenakyan, Member of Parliament
• Mikayel Kotanyan, Member of Parliament

The gunmen injured at least 30 people in the parliament.{{cite news|title=Attack in Armenia|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/july-dec99/armenia_update_10-27.html|date=27 October 1999|agency=PBS|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002174830/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/july-dec99/armenia_update_10-27.html}}

Hunanyan was accompanied by his brother Karen, uncle Vram, and two others.{{cite news|title=Vazgen Sargsyan Karen Demirchian Killed in Gunmen Raid on Parliament|url=http://asbarez.com/41443/vazgen-sargsyan-karen-demirchian-killed-in-gunmen-raid-on-parliamentgaregin/|newspaper=Asbarez|date=27 October 1999}} The group claimed they were carrying out a coup d'état,{{cite news|last=Jeffery|first=Simon|title=Armenian prime minister killed in 'coup bid'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/27/simonjeffery|newspaper=The Guardian|date=27 October 1999}} describing their act as "patriotic" and "needed for the nation to regain its senses." They said they wanted to "punish the authorities for what they do to the nation" and described the government as profiteers "drinking the blood of the people."{{cite news|last=Demourian|first=Avet|title=Gunmen Take Over Armenian Parliament; Premier Killed|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/oct99/armenia27.htm|date=27 October 1999|agency=Associated Press}} They claimed Armenia was in a "catastrophic situation" and that "corrupt officials" were not doing anything to provide the way out.{{cite news|last=Mulvey|first=Stephen|title=Killers lacked coherent goals|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/491194.stm|date=28 October 1999|agency=BBC News}} Vazgen Sargsyan was the main target of the group and the other deaths were said to be unintended. According to reporters who witnessed the shooting, the men went up to Sargsyan and said, "Enough of drinking our blood," to which Sargsyan calmly responded, "Everything is being done for you and the future of your children." Sargsyan was hit several times.{{cite news|title=Armenia's prime minister killed in parliament shooting|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/27/armenia.04/|date=27 October 1999|agency=CNN}} Hunanyan claimed that the eight deaths and dozens of injuries in the attack were all "innocent victims" except for the case of Sargsyan, who he said had "failed the nation".{{cite news|last1=Aivakian|first1=Gagik|last2=Tatevosian|first2=Ara|title=Murder In The Parliament – The Consequences|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/murder-parliament-consequences|agency=Institute for War and Peace Reporting|date=29 October 1999}} Anna Israelyan, a journalist who witnessed the incident, stated that "the first shots were fired directly at Vazgen Sargsyan at a distance of one to two meters" and, in her words, "it was impossible that he would have survived." Gagik Saratikyan, a cameraman, was the first person from outside to be allowed to go into the building while the men were in control of it. Saratikyan recorded the dead bodies of Sargsyan and Demirchyan. Sargsyan's body was taken out of the parliament building on the evening of 27 October.

File:Raffi kojian-1999 parliament shootings-0197.jpg

File:ArmenianStamps-175a.jpg

Soon after the attack, hundreds of policemen and military personnel and two armored personnel carriers were brought into Yerevan, positioned on Baghramyan Avenue surrounding the National Assembly building. Meanwhile, ambulances rushed to the site of the shooting. President Robert Kocharyan was directing the operation of the security forces around the parliament building.{{cite news|last=Magdashian|first=Petya|title=Terror in parliament|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Terror-in-parliament-3061403.php|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=27 October 1999}} While holding around 50 hostages inside the building, the men demanded a helicopter and airtime on national television for a political statement.{{cite news|last=Dixon|first=Robyn|author-link=Robyn Dixon (journalist)|date=28 October 1999|title=Gunmen Kill Premier in Armenian Attack|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|location=Moscow|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-28-mn-27246-story.html}}{{cite news|title=Hostage stand-off in Armenian parliament|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/488383.stm|date=27 October 1999|agency=BBC News}}

President Kocharyan gave a speech on television announcing that the situation was under control. His spokesman was quick to characterize the men as "individual terrorists" and assured that "it's only the parliament building and a very small group." After overnight negotiations with President Kocharyan, the gunmen released the hostages and gave themselves up on the morning of 28 October after a standoff that lasted 17–18 hours.{{cite news|last=Wines|first=Michael|title=Assassination in Armenia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/31/weekinreview/october-24-30-assassination-in-armenia.html|newspaper=New York Times|date=31 October 1999|author-link=Michael Wines}} Kocharyan had guaranteed the personal security of the gunmen and the right to a free trial.{{cite news|last=Wines|first=Michael|title=Prime Minister and Others Slain in Armenian Siege|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/28/world/prime-minister-and-others-slain-in-armenian-siege.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fK%2fKocharian%2c%20Robert3|newspaper=New York Times|date=28 October 1999|author-link=Michael Wines}}{{cite news|title=Armenia gunmen charged|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/501793.stm|date=1 November 1999|agency=BBC News}} In the meantime, the Armenian armed forces blocked the roads leading to Yerevan for security reasons.{{cite news |date=5 November 1999 |title=Armenia in Crisis |url=http://www.theestimate.com/public/110599.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000127115150/http://www.theestimate.com/public/110599.html |archive-date=2000-01-27 |newspaper=The Estimate}}

On 28 October 1999, President Kocharyan declared a three-day mourning period.{{cite news|title=Gunmen Free Hostages Surrender; Three Day Mourning Period Announced by President|url=http://asbarez.com/41453/gunmen-free-hostages-surrender-three-day-mourning-period-announced-by-president/|newspaper=Asbarez|date=28 October 1999}} The state funeral ceremony for the victims of the parliament shooting took place from 30 October to 31 October 1999. The bodies of the victims, including Sargsyan, were placed inside the Yerevan Opera Theater.{{cite news|title=In pictures: Armenia's grief|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/498121.stm|date=30 October 1999|agency=BBC News}}{{cite news|title=Sargsyan Demirchian Others Laid to Rest; President Calls Emergency Parliament Session|url=http://asbarez.com/41465/sargsyan-demirchian-others-laid-to-rest-president-calls-emergency-parliament-session|newspaper=Asbarez|date=1 November 1999}} Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, and Aram I, the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, gave prayers.{{cite news|last=Manoogian Simone|first=Louise|title=Tragedy in Armenia|url=http://agbu.org/news-item/tragedy-in-armenia/|newspaper=AGBU News Magazine|date=1 November 1999|access-date=17 June 2014|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002141155/http://agbu.org/news-item/tragedy-in-armenia/}}

A poll carried out immediately after the shooting (on 30–31 October) by the Center for Sociological Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia found that 56.9% of respondents said that the 27 October events were a crime against statehood and the country's authorities. 63.4% of those questioned believed that the terrorist group consisted of assassins–traitors and enemies.{{cite news|title=Public Says Oct. 27 Events Is A Crime Against Statehood|url=http://asbarez.com/41483/public-says-oct-27-events-is-a-crime-against-statehood/|access-date=17 June 2014|work=Asbarez|date=3 November 1999}}

• {{flag|Australia}}: Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer condemned the assassination of the high officials.{{cite web|last=Downer|first=Alexander|title=Assassination of Armenian Prime Minister|url=http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/releases/1999/fa121_99.html|publisher=Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs|access-date=31 March 2013|author-link=Alexander Downer|date=28 October 1999|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100309/http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/1999/fa121_99.html}}
• {{flag|France}}: The Armenian embassy in Paris received telegrams from President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and many others.
• {{flag|Iran}}: Vice President Hassan Habibi visited the Armenian embassy in Tehran, where he left a condolence note in the book on the sad occasion.{{cite news|title=International Figures Offer Condolences|url=http://asbarez.com/41474/international-figures-offer-condolences/|access-date=6 July 2014|work=Asbarez|date=2 November 1999}}
• {{flag|Kazakhstan}}: President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan sent a telegram of condolences to President Kocharyan, saying it was a "barbaric" incident that had been received "with shock and indignation". Nazarbayev emphasized that this "monstrous crime once again demands that we join efforts to step up the uncompromising fight against terrorism which threatens people's stability, creative work and peaceful life."
• {{flag|Russia}}: President Boris Yeltsin expressed his "deep anger" and "sharp condemnation of the actions of the terrorists". He instructed the Russian ambassador in Yerevan to convey his "deepest sympathies" and condolences to all those who had suffered "as a result of this barbarous act". President Yeltsin was also quoted as saying there was a need "to curb decisively all manifestations of terrorism, wherever they happened," stressing Russia's readiness for "close co-operation on this issue with all concerned parties."{{cite news|title=World leaders condemn Armenia killing|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/489490.stm|access-date=29 May 2013|date=27 October 1999|agency=BBC News}}
• {{flag|Syria|1980}}: Parliament Speaker Abdul Qadir Qaddura offered condolences.
• {{flag|United Kingdom}}: The Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is clearly a terrible blow for Armenia after gaining independence in 1991 and after efforts to build up a democracy. We do not condone terrorism."
• {{flag|United States}}: President Bill Clinton condemned the shootings, calling it a "senseless act", and stated renewed US support for Armenia. He added, "At this time of tragedy we renew our support for the people of Armenia and their leaders as they continue to build on the principles today's victims have so courageously embodied."{{cite news|title=U.S. appalled by Armenia parliament shootings|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/27/armenia.us.reax/|access-date=6 July 2014|agency=CNN|date=27 October 1999}} Vice President Al Gore stated: "I was deeply saddened by today's shocking and brutal attack on the Armenian Parliament. I condemn this assault on Armenian democracy and extend my deep condolences to the families of the victims."{{cite web |title=Statement of Vice President Al Gore on Armenia |url=https://clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov/1999/10/1999-10-27-statement-by-the-vice-president-on-armenia.html |website=clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205091912/https://clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov/1999/10/1999-10-27-statement-by-the-vice-president-on-armenia.html |archive-date=5 December 2021 |date=October 27, 1999}} On November 17, 1999, the House of Representatives passed a resolution deploring the assassinations.{{cite news|title=House Votes to Condemn Parliament Attack|url=http://asbarez.com/41573/house-votes-to-condemn-parliament-attack/|access-date=6 July 2014|work=Asbarez|date=18 November 1999}}

The five men were charged with terrorism aimed at undermining authority on 29 October.{{cite news|last=Wines|first=Michael|title=3 Charged in Armenia Parliament Seizure|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/29/world/3-charged-in-armenia-parliament-seizure.html|access-date=12 April 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=29 October 1999|author-link=Michael Wines}} The investigation was led by Gagik Jhangiryan, the Chief Military Prosecutor of Armenia, who claimed his team was looking for the masterminds of the shooting even after the trial had begun.{{cite news|title=Prosecutor Says Oct. 27 Terrorism Was Guided By Unknown Forces|url=http://asbarez.com/43936/prosecutor-says-oct-27-terrorism-was-guided-by-unknown-forces/|access-date=11 June 2013|newspaper=Asbarez|date=30 October 2000}} According to Jhangiryan, the investigating team considered more than a dozen theories.{{cite news|title=Armenia: Investigators Continue Inquiry Into Parliament Attack|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1092828.html|access-date=11 April 2013|date=9 December 1999|agency=RFE/RL}} By January 2000, Jhangiryan's investigators considered the connection of Kocharyan and his circle to the parliament shooting.{{cite book|last=Karatnycky|first=Adrian|title=Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000–2001|year=2001|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-5008-7|page=58}} Several figures close to Kocharyan were arrested, including Aleksan Harutiunyan, the Deputy Presidential Adviser, and Harutiun Harutiunyan, the Deputy Director of the Public Television of Armenia but, by the summer of that year, they were released. Eventually, Jhangiryan failed to find evidence linking Kocharyan to the shooting.{{cite book|last=Karatnycky|first=Adrian|title=Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000–2001|year=2001|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-5008-7|pages=59–60}}

The investigation ended and the case was sent to court on 12 July 2000.{{cite news|title=October 27 Case Sent to Court|url=http://asbarez.com/42724/october-27-case-sent-to-court/|access-date=6 April 2013|newspaper=Asbarez|date=12 July 2000}} The trial began on 15 February 2001, in Yerevan's Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court.{{cite news|title=October 27 Trial Begins|url=http://asbarez.com/44472/october-27-trial-begins/|access-date=11 June 2013|newspaper=Asbarez|date=15 February 2001}} The judicial case was transferred to the jurisdiction of Aghvan Hovsepyan, the Prosecutor General, and his office, which finally closed the case for lack of evidence. The five main perpetrators of the shooting (Nairi Hunanyan, his younger brother Karen Hunanyan, their uncle Vram Galstyan, Derenik Ejanyan and Eduard Grigoryan) were sentenced to life in prison on 2 December 2003.{{cite news|title=Parliament Gunmen Jailed for Life|url=http://asbarez.com/49300/parliament-gunmen-jailed-for-life/|access-date=11 June 2013|newspaper=Asbarez|date=2 December 2003}}

It has never been fully explained what motivated the attack: the gunmen claimed to have been acting on their own initiative, and despite abundant conspiracy theories, no convincing evidence surfaced to suggest that any political leader or party was behind the attack. Nevertheless, the killings left a leadership void in the political establishment.{{cite book|title=Democracy on Rocky Ground: Armenia's Disputed 2008 Presidential Election, Post-election Violence, and the One-sided Pursuit of Accountability|year=2009|location=New York|isbn=978-1-56432-444-3|page=8|publisher=Human Rights Watch}} Conspiracy theories immediately flourished that the gunmen had been acting on orders to sabotage a Karabakh peace deal, but a decade on, the available evidence still pointed to the leading gunman being a loner with a grudge against the Armenian political elite.{{cite book|last=de Waal|first=Thomas|title=The Caucasus: An Introduction|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-974620-0|page=128|author-link=Thomas de Waal}}

In an interview in April 2013, Rima Demirchyan, the widow of Karen Demirchyan, suggested that the shooting was commanded from outside of Armenia and that it was not an attempted coup, but rather an assassination.{{cite news|last=Harutyunyan|first=Tatev|title="Դա եղել է սպանություն, ոչ թե հեղաշրջում". Կ. Դեմիրճյանի այրին՝ հոկտեմբերի 27-մասին [Karen Demirchyan's widow: It was an assassination, not a coup]|url=http://www.aravot.am/2013/04/16/231540/|access-date=14 May 2013|newspaper=Aravot|date=16 April 2013|language=hy}}

Former U.S. ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch suggested in Lessons From the Edge: A Memoir that the disagreements over Nagorno-Karabakh policy had "played a large role in the shooting.{{cite book |last1=Yovanovitch |first1=Marie |author1-link=Marie Yovanovitch |title=Lessons From the Edge: A Memoir |date=2022 |publisher=Mariner Books |location=Boston |page=197 |quote=Disagreements over NK policy had played a large role in the resignation of Armenia's president in 1998 and in the 1999 assassinations of its prime minister, parliamentary speaker, and other officials.}}

{{multiple image|image1=Robert Kocharyan's Interveiw, 2003.jpg|width1=180|caption1=Robert Kocharyan, President at the time of the shooting

|image2=S Sarkisyan.jpg|width2=191|caption2=Serzh Sargsyan, National Security Minister at the time of the shooting}}

Although the investigation did not find any considerable evidence linking Kocharyan to the Hunanyan group, many Armenian people believe that President Robert Kocharyan and National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan were behind the assassination of Vazgen Sargsyan and other leading politicians.{{cite book|last=Kaeter|first=Margaret|title=The Caucasian republics|publisher=Facts On File|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-5268-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/caucasianrepubli00kaet/page/43 43–44]|year=2004|quote=Many Armenians believe the shootings were the result of a conspiracy, in which Kocharian was involved. They note that some of Kocharian's main political rivals at the time were among those killed.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/caucasianrepubli00kaet/page/43}}{{cite book|last=Zürcher|first=Christoph|title=The post-Soviet wars: rebellion, ethnic conflict, and nationhood in the Caucasus|url=https://archive.org/details/postsovietwarsre00zurc|url-access=limited|year=2007|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8147-9709-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/postsovietwarsre00zurc/page/n185 173]|author-link=:de:Christoph Zürcher|quote=He [Kocharian] is rumored to have been behind the gunning down of several of his opponents on the floor of the parliament in 1999.}}{{cite news|title=Robert Kocharian|url=http://newint.org/issues/2006/12/01/|access-date=6 July 2014|work=New Internationalist|issue=396|date=December 2006|quote=Many Armenians continue to believe that Kocharian was responsible for the assassinations.}}{{efn-ua|"Some relatives and friends of the assassinated officials, among them two of Armenia's most popular opposition leaders, suspect Kocharian of having a hand in the killings and have openly accused him of obstructing justice. Kocharian and his supporters have always dismissed the charges." "It thrust the Armenian government into serious turmoil, with government factions loyal to the slain officials suspecting Kocharian and then National Security Minister Serzh Sarkisian of eliminating increasingly powerful rivals."{{cite news|title=Armenia Marks Parliament Attack Anniversary|url=http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/1862609.html|access-date=6 April 2013|date=28 October 2009|author1=Martirosian, Anush |author2=Meloyan, Ruben |agency=RFE/RL}}}} In January 2000, investigators alleged that several members of President Robert Kocharian's inner circle had been behind the October 27 shooting, promoting some opposition figures to call for Kocharian's resignation. However, Kocharyan gradually consolidated his power throughout the year to emerge as the most powerful figure in the country's leadership.

Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan has repeatedly "accused Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan and their 'criminal-oligarchic' system of being the real perpetrators of the parliament shooting." In the run up to the 2008 presidential election he explicitly stated that "If you vote for Serzh Sargsyan on February 19, you will vote for Nairi Hunanyan. He who elects Serzh Sarkisian would desecrate the holy graves of Karen Demirchian and Vazgen Sarkisian." In 2009 the Armenian National Congress, an opposition alliance led by Ter-Petrosyan, released a statement on the 10th anniversary of the shooting blaming "Kocharyan and Serzh Sarkisyan for the killings, claiming that most Armenians consider them the masterminds of the crime." The statement continued, "October 27 was a violent seizure of power perpetrated by means of terrorism. Terrorism thus became the regime's main tool for clinging to power and reproducing itself."

In March 2013, Vazgen Sargsyan's younger brother Aram Sargsyan stated that he has many questions to both governments of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. He claimed the judicial process of October 27 "deepened the public distrust in the authorities" as "many questions remain unanswered today" According to Aram Sargsyan, the disclosure of the shooting is "vital" for Armenia. Sargsyan at conclusion insisted that he "have never accused this or the former authorities in being responsible for October 27. I have accused them in not fully disclosing October 27."{{cite news|title=Բազմաթիվ հարցականները մնացին օդից կախված [Many questions remain unanswered]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-axHmpBUmhY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211115/-axHmpBUmhY| archive-date=2021-11-15 | url-status=live|access-date=16 April 2013|newspaper=A1plus|date=5 March 2013|language=hy}}{{cbignore}}

Albert Bazeyan stated in 2002 that "We have come to the conclusion that the crime was aimed at making Robert Kocharian's power unlimited and uncontrolled. By physically eliminating Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen Sargsyan, its organizers wanted to create prerequisites for Kocharyan's victory in the future presidential elections."{{cite news|title=Armenia: Parliament Massacre Still A Mystery Three Years Later|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1101210.html|access-date=11 April 2013|date=28 October 2002|agency=RFE/RL|quote=The Miasnutiun victory significantly limited President Robert Kocharian's powers, with Sarkisian increasingly emerging as Armenia's most powerful man.}}

In late April 2005, in an interview to an Azerbaijani newspaper Realniy Azerbaijan, the former Russian secret service agent Alexander Litvinenko accused the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of having organised the Armenian parliament shooting, ostensibly to derail the peace process which would have resolved the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but he offered no evidence to support the accusation.{{cite news|url=http://realazer.com/_3/index.html|script-title=ru:Список киллеров ФСБ|trans-title=List of FSB killers|date=29 April 2005|newspaper=Реальный Азербайджан (Realniy Azerbaijan)|language=ru|access-date=16 February 2009 |url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104110225/http://realazer.com/_3/index.html|archive-date=4 November 2005}}{{cite news|url=http://www.azg.am/EN/2005050307 |title=Shooting of the Armenian Parliament was organized by Russian special services |date=3 May 2005 |newspaper=Azg Daily |access-date=6 April 2010 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=http://www.freezepage.com/1270569339JOFECUAZJM?url=http://www.azg.am/EN/2005050307 |archive-date=6 April 2010 }} ( at Freezepage.com){{cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Andrew |author2=Plater Zyberk, Henry |title=The UK & Russia — A Troubled Relationship Part I |chapter=Misunderstanding Russia: Alexander Litvinenko |year=2007 |page=10 |isbn=978-1-905962-15-0 |publisher=Conflict Studies Research Centre of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom |publication-date=22 May 2007 |url=http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/russian/07%2817%29AM.pdf |access-date=16 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080901223250/http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/russian/07%2817%29AM.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2008 }} ( on 11 May 2013) "Litvinenko had also blamed the Russian special services for shootings in the Armenian parliament in 1999, concluding that, as a result, "Russia's political leadership managed to prevent the signing of a peace agreement resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". Again, he provided no evidence to back up his accusation." In May 2005, the Russian embassy in Armenia denied any such involvement, and described Litvinenko's accusation as an attempt to harm relations between Armenia and Russia by people against the democratic reforms in Russia.{{cite news|title=Russian embassy denies special services' part in Armenian parliament shooting|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-136824340/russian-embassy-denies-special.html|date=12 May 2005|publisher=Information Telegraph Agency of Russia|access-date=6 April 2010}} The Armenian National Security Service also denied the Russian involvement in the shootings. The NSS spokesman Artsvin Baghramyan stated "not a single fact or even a hint relating to Litvinenko's theory emerged during the trial." President Robert Kocharyan's national security adviser, Garnik Isagulyan, called Litvinenko a "sick man."{{cite news|last=Stepanian|first=Ruzanna|title=Armenian Officials Deny Russian Role In 1999 Parliament Carnage|url=http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/1576814.html|access-date=11 May 2013|date=4 May 2005|agency=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}

On October 27, 2012, the French-based Armenian political refugee and former Apostolic priest Artsruni Avetisysan (also known by his religious name Ter Girgor) gave an interview to A1plus, in which he claimed that the Russian secret services had been behind the shooting.{{cite news|title=Ո՞վ պետք է սպանվեր Հոկտեմբերի 27-ին [Who was to be killed on October 27?]|url=http://www.a1plus.am/am/politics/2012/10/27/arcruni-avetisyan|access-date=22 May 2013|date=27 October 2012|agency=A1plus|language=hy}} On May 7, 2013, in an interview to the same agency, Artsruni Avetisysan claimed the shooting was perpetrated by Lieutenant General Vahan Shirkhanyan, the Deputy Minister of Defense from 1992 to 1999 and the National Security Minister Serzh Sargsyan. He insisted the shooting was assisted by the Russian secret services in order to bring the "Neo-Bolshevik criminal clan" of Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan into power.{{cite news|title=Այդ մարդը Շիրխանյա՞նն էր [Was Vahan Shirkhanyan that person?]|url=http://www.a1plus.am/am/politics/2013/05/07/artsruni-avetisyan|access-date=25 May 2013|date=7 May 2013|agency=A1plus|language=hy}}

Ashot Manucharyan, one of the leading members of the Karabakh Committee, the former Minister of Internal Affairs and Levon Ter-Petrosyan's National Security Adviser and his close ally until 1993, without presenting any proof and having access to secret services, stated in October 2000 that Armenian officials were warned by a foreign country about the shootings. He also declared that "Western special services" were involved in the October 27 events. In Manucharyan's words, "the special services of the US and France are acting to destroy Armenia, and in this context, they are much likely to be involved in the realization of the terrorist acts in Armenia."{{cite news|title=Before October 27, 1999 Armenian representatives were warned from the outside about a terrorist attack, declares the Armenian politician|url=http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/7704/|access-date=3 June 2013|date=18 October 2000|agency=PanARMENIAN.Net}}

Nairi Hunanyan, the leader of the armed group, was an ex-member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun).{{cite news|title=Analysts baffled by shooting|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/489301.stm|access-date=29 May 2013|date=27 October 1999|agency=BBC News|quote=He became the most powerful politician in the country long before he won the parliamentary elections in May}} According to the ARF representatives, Hunanyan was expelled from the party in 1992 for misconduct and had not been in any association with the ARF since then.{{cite news|title=Key Armenian leaders assassinated|url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=11722&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=213|access-date=25 May 2013|date=28 October 1999|agency=The Jamestown Foundation}} Some speculations have been made about the involvement of the ARF in the shootings. Ashot Manucharyan stated in 2000 that he is much worried about the circumstance that "a number of Dashnaktsutyun party leaders are acting in the interest of the American foreign policy."

Armenian-American journalist Garin Hovannisian described the aftermath of the attack as follows:{{cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Garin K.|title=Family of Shadows: A Century of Murder, Memory, and the Armenian American Dream|url=https://archive.org/details/familyofshadowsc0000hova|url-access=registration|year=2010|publisher=Harper|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-179208-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/familyofshadowsc0000hova/page/203 203]|author-link=Garin Hovannisian}}

{{blockquote|For weeks the Armenians mourned in silence, but from their grief a startling theory began to evolve. The assassinations had been pinned on the terrorist leader, an ex-journalist named Nairi Hunanyan, but the public was not satisfied. The fact was that Prime Minister Sargsyan and Speaker Demirchyan had recently created in parliament an alliance for democratic reform, and they were only men who commanded the resources and popularity to challenge the president one day. Of course, there was no actual evidence that Robert Kocharyan was complicit in this monstrous crime against the Armenian people, but it was clear that he emerged from the bloodbath with absolute power.}}

From early June to late October 1999, the political system in Armenia was based on the Demirchyan-Sargsyan tandem, which controlled the military, the legislative and the executive branches. Their assassination disrupted the political balance in the country and the political arena of Armenia was left in disarray for months.{{cite book|title=Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia: 2003|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-85743-137-7|pages=79–80}} The assassination hit Armenia's international reputation, resulting in a decline in the foreign investment.{{cite web|last=Ugurlayan|first=Anahid M.|title=Armenia: Privatization and Foreign Direct Investment in a Climate of Political and Economic Instability|url=http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1526&context=ilr|publisher=Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School|access-date=5 April 2013|page=430|date=5 January 2001|quote=The assassinations directly impacted foreign investment, which dropped 92.2% from 1998 to 1999.}} The "de facto dual command" of Sargsyan and Demirchyan transferred to President Robert Kocharyan.{{cite journal|last=Petrosyan|first=David|title=The Political System of Armenia: Form and Content|journal=Caucasus Analytical Digest|year=2010|issue=17|page=8|url=http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/CAD-17-8-12.pdf|access-date=15 May 2013|publisher=Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Jefferson Institute, Washington D.C.; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen}}

Aram Khachatryan from the People's Party of Armenia was elected speaker of the parliament, while Vazgen Sargsyan's brother Aram Sargsyan was appointed prime minister.{{cite book|title=The Europa World yearbook 2004|year=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|location=London|isbn=978-1-85743-254-1|page=554|edition=45th}} However, Aram Sargsyan was dismissed by President Kocharyan in May 2000 due to an "inability to work" with Sargsyan's cabinet. Republican Party leader Andranik Margaryan came to replace him as prime minister on May 12, 2000.

Kocharyan successfully prevented the Unity bloc-controlled parliament from impeaching him, and gradually consolidated power around himself.{{cite news|title=Armenia: Mystery Still Surrounds Armenian Parliament Slaughter|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1095028.html|access-date=11 April 2013|date=27 October 2000|agency=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}} Kocharyan remained highly unpopular in Armenia, as a poll in August 2002 showed at least three other politicians (Stepan Demirchyan, Artashes Geghamyan, Levon Ter-Petrosyan) having more support than him. In 2009, Anahit Bakhshyan, an MP from Heritage and the widow of Yuri Bakhshyan, the assassinated Deputy National Assembly Speaker, stated that "Robert Kocharyan turned October 27, 1999, terrorism act to good use, making a shift towards more totalitarian regime."{{cite news|title=October 27 terrorism act – major blow on Armenia's international prestige|url=http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/38288/|access-date=17 May 2013|date=27 October 2009|agency=PanARMENIAN.Net}} Human Development Report wrote in 2000 that the "October 27 events adversely impacted the situation in the country in all aspects and spheres and its consequences will be felt for long, in economic, political and social expressions" and predicted a further decline in human development.{{cite web|title=Human Rights and Human Development Action for Progress Armenia 2000|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/armenia_2000_en.pdf|publisher=Human Development Report|access-date=19 May 2013|page=15}}

On 27 October 2009, a memorial was installed in the National Assembly park. During the opening ceremony, Stepan Demirchyan, the son of one of the two most senior victims, Karen Demirchyan, stated that "It is impossible to get an entire revelation while the current authorities are in power. However, sooner or later the reality will be disclosed. This is a matter of our statehood's dignity. Only in case of having an entire revelation we will be able to overcome the negative consequences of the October 27 events."{{cite news|title=October 27: Memorial is installed, victims are remembered|url=http://www.armenianow.com/news/10720/october_27_memorial_is_installed|access-date=3 April 2013|newspaper=ArmeniaNow|date=27 October 2009|archive-date=26 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026135724/https://www.armenianow.com/news/10720/october_27_memorial_is_installed}}

• List of attacks on legislatures

;Notes

{{notelist-ua}}

;Citations

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080309203634/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/30/armenia.mourn/index.html Thousands mourn victims of Armenian parliament shooting CNN]
• [http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/1028/print/armenia.html Interior Minister resigns after parliament shooting]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930075454/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,33337,00.html Armenian Shootings May Provoke Political Crisis]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenian Parliament Shooting}}

Category:1990s murders in Armenia

Category:1999 crimes in Armenia

Category:1999 in politics

Category:1999 murders in Europe

Category:20th century in Yerevan

Category:Attacks in Armenia

Category:Attacks on legislatures in Asia

Category:Attempted coups in Armenia

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Category:Mass murder in 1999

Category:20th-century mass murder in Armenia

Category:Mass shootings in Armenia

Category:October 1999 in Asia

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Category:Politics of Armenia

Category:Terrorist incidents in Armenia

Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1999

Category:Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1999

Category:Attacks on legislatures in Europe