1999 Armenian parliament shooting was an attack on the Armenian parliament on October 27, 1999 at 5:15 p.m, by a group of armed men that killed the Prime Minister of Armenia and 7 other high ranking officials.

Contents 1 Shooting 2 Aftermath 3 Alleged involvement of Robert Kocharyan 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Shooting

The government was holding a question-and-answer period when five gunmen entered, led by Nairi Hunanyan who was a former journalist, plus his brother and uncle. They burst into the parliament chamber after they easily obtained passes allowing them to enter parliament, smuggling their weapons under their overcoats. They fired their automatic weapons and killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliamentary Speaker Karen Demirchyan, Deputy Speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, Armenia's Emergencies Minister Leonard Petrosyan, and at least three others. The United Nations General Assembly meeting was interrupted in its schedule to pay tribute to the victims of the shooting.^[1]

After killing high ranking officials, they announced they were staging a coup d'état ^[2] and claimed that they wanted to punish "corrupt officials."^[3] The leader of the group said they intended to kill only Prime Minister Sargsyan, and the other deaths were "mistakes". They surrendered Thursday morning and freed about 40 hostages after they were allowed to speak on national television and were promised a fair trial and safe passage by negotiations with the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.^[4][5] Nairi Hunanyan and the five gunmen were sentenced to life in prison.

[edit] Aftermath

Thousands of Armenians gathered in the Armenian city of Yerevan's Freedom Square for funeral services as the nation continued three days of official mourning for its prime minister and seven other government slain officials. About 20,000 people, including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, came to pay their respects for the dead lawmakers. United States President Bill Clinton offered condolences and support by telephone to Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. Hunanian was later quoted as saying "We wanted to save the Armenian people from perishing and restore their rights."

[edit] Alleged involvement of Robert Kocharyan

According to some^[who?] experts Robert Kocharyan, who was the President of Armenia, was allegedly behind the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting which eliminated the political leaders that could have competed with him on the national level.^[6] In October 2001, thousands marched in the streets of Yereven on the second anniversary of the killings, demanding Kocharyan's removal.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Thousands mourn victims of Armenian parliament shooting CNN
• Interior Minister resigns after parliament shooting
• Armenian Shootings May Provoke Political Crisis