Levon Ter-Petrossian

Infobox_President | name=Levon Ter-Petrossian Լևոն Տեր-Պետրոսյան | nationality=Armenian


order=1st President of Armenia
term_start=October 16, 1991
term_end=February 3, 1998
successor=Robert Kocharyan
birth_date=Birth date and age|1945|1|9|mf=y
birth_place=Aleppo, Syria
dead=alive
party=ANM (Armenian: ՀՀՇ or "HHSh")

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 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 communist 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, Russian, French, English, German, Arabic and some "dead" 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 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. [ [http://www.levonpresident.am/ The Official Levon Ter-Petrosian for President Web Site] ]

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 some 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 concessions to Azerbaijan in the resolution 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 ArmeniaFact|date=February 2008.

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" historio-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, [Emil Danielian and Liz Fuller, [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/11/fc64b5fb-efac-4463-8e9f-13b3d6fd1714.html "Armenian Ex-President Confirms Comeback Plans"] , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1 November 2007.] Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, "Azadakrum" movement for Jirair Sefilian, "New Times" Party and the Heritage Party, led by Raffi Hovannisian. [ [http://www.payqar.org/am/1/ Payqar newspaper] ; see also http://azadakrum.org]

Final results from the election, which was held on February 19 2008, showed Ter-Petrossian in second place with 21.5% of the vote, well behind Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian. [ [http://www.defacto.am/index.php?OP=71396441 "RA CEC DECLARED SERGE SARGSIAN ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT"] , defacto.am, 25 February 2008.] He accused the government of rigging the election and claimed victory; [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/19/europe/EU-POL-Armenia-Presidential-Election.php "Armenian opposition candidate accuses prime minister of election violations"] , Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"), February 19, 2008.] beginning on February 20, he led continuous protests involving tens of thousands of his supporters in Yerevan. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/21/europe/EU-POL-Armenia-Presidential-Election.php "Thousands challenge victory of Armenian PM in presidential vote in 2nd day of protests"] , Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"), February 21, 2008.]

Kocharyan ordered the Police to start breaking up the protests on March 1 and then declared a state of emergency. On the same day, Ter-Petrossian was reportedly placed under house arrest. [ [http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/03/FFAB3C6D-A75D-4E48-B0D6-5D3A83069160.ASP Ter-Petrosian ‘Under House Arrest,’ Rally Broken Up, "Radio Liberty"] ] [ [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/03/7D25D2BD-9268-4233-A631-BF5F29FD5BCE.html "Armenia: Eight Killed After Clashes Between Police, Protesters"] , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, March 2, 2008.]

Filmography

* 2002: " [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5259207171967580050The manuscript of independence] (Matyan Ankakhutyan), a documentary, which was dedicated to the 10th anniversary of independence of Armenia (1991-2001). Director - Levon Mkrtchyan.
thumb|200px|">The Manuscript of Independence
Above:Levon Ter-Petrossian

References

External links

* [http://www.payqar.org/am/1/ "Payqar" (Struggle) official newspaper]
* [http://www.president.am/library/eng/?task=43 Official Presidential site of Armenia]
* [http://www.huliq.com/39676/first-president-of-armenia-levon-ter-petrosian-announces-candidacy Levon Ter Petrosian Announces Presidential Candidacy]