1999_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1999

              4
Hye Sharzhoom
December 1999
Assassinations Shock Armenia; Prime Minister Slain in Parliament
In a series of articles, Fresno
Bee reporter Michael Krikorian
and photographer Mark Crosse
provided in-depth coverage ofthe
election of His Holiness Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians, and
also covered the assassination of
top officials in the Armenian government.
Krikorian and Crosse were the
only American reporters in Armenia covering the election of the
Catholicos and subsequent events.
See all of the Fresno Bee articles and accompanying photos on
the Fresno Bee website:
www.fresnobee. com.
The following story, reprinted
with permission, first appeared in
the Oct. 28, 1999, edition of The
Fresno Bee.
By Michael Krikorian
The Fresno Bee
YEREVAN, Armenia —
Within a few minutes and a few
miles from where the Armenian
church selected its new pontiff, gunmen with automatic weapons burst
into the capital's parliament
Wednesday [Oct. 26] and assassinated the prime minister and seven
government officials, adding another bloody chapter to the history
of this embattled, ancient land.
The attackers surrendered early
today, releasing dozens of hostages,
after coming to terms with the
nation's president, officials said.
Vazgen Sarkisian, 40, considered the most powerful politician
in Armenia, was gunned down
Der Mugrdechian Reflects
on Election of Catholicos
By Shushan Khalachyan
Staff Writer
The recent election of the
Catholicos was not just an
average one. Following the
recent death of His Holiness,
Catholicos Karekin I, on June 29,
1999, the Supreme Spiritual Coun-
Barlow Der Mugrdechian
photo by Michael Harutinian
cil voted to hold the election ofthe
new Catholicos from Oct. 26-31,
1999. According to tradition, the
election must be held between six
months and one year after the death
ofthe Catholicos. In this case there
was no waiting. The Armenian
people needed a new Catholicos as
soon as possible because of the
important upcoming events in the
Armenian Church.
In total, 452 delegates were
chosen from all over the world to
participate in this very special election. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of
the California State University,
Fresno Armenian Studies Program,
was one of the five delegates chosen from Central California to go to
the Church of Holy Etchmiadzin to
participate in the election process.
After he returned from his exciting
trip, he gave a lecture titled, "The
Election of a Catholicos: A Report," on Nov. 16, 1999. Der
Mugrdechian detailed his experience in Armenia. His lecture was
brought to life with slides and a
video. Professor Der Mugrdechian
reported his eyewitness accounts
depicting what happened on a day
by day basis.
On Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1999,
delegates gathered at Holy
Etchmiadzin to participate in the
Divine Liturgy service and to take
Holy Communion followed by a
special requiem service for the late
Karekin I.
At 2:00
p.m. that afternoon the
delegate registration process began.
There was an
enthusiasm in
the air and ex-
c i t e m e n t
among the
people. No
one knew exactly what to
expect. All
were anxiously waiting.
On
Wednesday
morning, Oct.
27, the delegates noticed the first
evidence of politicking. There was
a mini-demonstration promoting
one of the candidates. That morning the final candidates were nominated. Forty-seven bishops were
eligible to become Catholicos, but
only two candidates accepted the
nomination. The two candidates
were Archbishop Nerses
Bozabalian, who was the Locum
Tenens, and Archbishop Karekin
Nersessian, who was head of the
Araratian Diocese. At 2:30 p.m.
the delegates started to enter the
church one by one and once they
were all in, the doors were locked.
Now the election process could begin.
The delegates were to vote and
place their ballots inside a large
wooden box. This process took
about two and a half hours. Each
ballot was then read out loud. At
6:30 p.m. the new Catholicos of all
Armenians was announced. Archbishop Karekin Nersessian was now
the 132nd Catholicos of all Armenians. This was a very emotional
shortly after 4 p.m.
(5 a.m. PDT) [Oct.
26] when four or five
men armed with AK-
47s calmly opened
fire in a bloodbath
captured live by government television
cameras.
Nearly 18 hours
later, the gunmen
gave up their weapons and were taken
by police to the Ministry of the Interior
for questioning, according to the
president's office.
The breakthrough came after
President Robert
Kocharian negotiated with the
gunmen' s leader and
promised they
would be given a fair trial.
There was no immediate word
on the condition of the hostages,
mainly lawmakers and senior officials, who had been held overnight
in the parliament building.
"It's over. It's over," said
Antranig Hovanessian, spokesman
for the Foreign Ministry.
The shooting occurred about
an hour before delegates from
around the world, including Fresno,
selected Karekin Nersessian as the
next Catholicos of All Armenians.
The election took place about 10
miles from the parliament at the 4th
century church of Holy
Etchmiadzin.
"Oh my God," I don't believe
this is happening," said Shakeh
Karakashian, ofthe delegation from
Fresno.
"On this day of all days. How
sad."
Also confirmed dead in the
attack were Parliament Speaker
Karen Demirchian, Energy Minister Leonid Petrosian, Yuri
Bakhsian, a senior minister, and at
least three members of parliament,
authorities said.
Hundreds of soldiers and dozens of armored personnel carriers
ringed the government complex on
Marshall Bagramian Street.
The attackers said their actions
were "patriotic" and that the government had failed its people, a
released hostage said.
Two hours after the shooting
began, two badly shaken hostages
were released and quickly whisked
away.
Soldiers carry the body of Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian to the
Yerablour Cemetery. photo byMark Crosse, The Fresno Bee
Although the city was stunned
by the shootings, there was no panic
in the streets.
The public was allowed to
watch the scene from across the
street, and members of the media
strolled in the middle of the street
less than 15 feet from the gates of
the compound.
Though the gunmen claimed
their actions were the beginning of
a coup d'etat that would topple the
government, no one seemed to be
taking that claim seriously.
"That this is a coup d'etat is
ridiculous," said Vahe Gabrielian,
press secretary for Kocharian.
"This is just the act of a handful of
individuals."
The gunmen, at least two of
them wearing overcoats and berets, charged into the meeting while
members of parliament were questioning government ministers on a
range of issues, including the peace
process with neighboring
Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
One of the gunmen, a former
journalist named Nairi Hounanian,
began cursing and yelling as he
entered the chambers.
"These people have sucked
on our blood,".Hounanian said as
he unleashed a torrent of death
from his Automatic Kalashnikov-
47, according to a local reporter
who was covering the parliament
meeting.
Throughout the night, on a
street nicknamed Shish Kebab
Lane, the talk was ofthe shootings,
but the action was of eating and
drinking.
The restaurants were full of
people. At the bar of the city's
premier hotel, it was all cognac,
coffee and conversation.
However, if there was a television nearby, it was tuned to the
news.
Kocharian was sped to the parliament building after he heard of
the shootings and was said to be
organizing the security forces. Armenian commandos, veterans from
the war in Nagorno-Karabagh, were
on the scene, and snipers were in
position on nearby roofs.
One of the largest questions
looming alongside the why of it
was the how of it: How could four
or five men with Kalashnikov assault rifles enter the parliament of a
country that has been rocked by
violence throughout its history?
One government official from
the foreign ministry office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
that though Armenia has been in
countless wars, this kind of violence was rare.
"We don't have this kind of
shooting here," he said. "But obviously, we are going to look into
how this could happen."
Russian President Boris
Yeltsin canceled his vacation on
the Black Sea and returned to Moscow, where he denounced the killings.
Hounanian, 34, who sources
said was a rabble rouser as a student at Yerevan State University,
See Assassinations, Page 6
moment that brought Karekin II to
tears. The election process was
over, and the announcement was
made along with the cheerful ringing ofthe church bells. Karekin II
began his moving speech in which
he thanked many people and spoke
about his main goal of unifying the
Armenian Church.
Professor Der Mugrdechian
presented a video for the lecture
audience showing the election process and the moment at which
Karekin II was elected. The video
brought the ceremony to life and
included footage when Karekin II
was notified ofthe Armenian Parliament assassinations.
By now the church doors were
opened and horrifying news fil
tered in. Karekin II continued with
his heartfelt speech and spoke of
his dearly departed mother and father when he was unexpectedly
handed a note. He paused in bewilderment and then made the astonishing announcement about the
tragedy that just took place in the
Armenian Parliament. He said that
the two top government officials
were shot and killed but he did not
know details or if the information
was accurate. This news left the
audience in a state of shock. Later
it was learned that while the voting
process was taking place, five
armed men had entered the Parliament building where they assassinated the top leaders ofthe government.
The murders in the government had a definite effect on the
Armenian people and on the events
that were to take place for the new
Catholicos. His consecration ceremony was to be held on Sunday,
Oct. 31, but was postponed because ofthe funeral services taking
place. A day of happiness and
celebration turned into a day of
sadness. This created a contrast of
emotions for the Armenian people.
He was not consecrated until the
following Thursday in a very elaborate ceremony. The lecture was
followed by a question and answer
session during which members
from the large crowd inquired about
Der Mugrdechian's experience.