{"id":7001,"date":"2025-12-08T12:19:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T09:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armtribunal.com\/?p=7001"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:20:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T09:20:56","slug":"kak-nachalas-katastrofa-v-armenii-ot-romantiki-nezavisimosti-k-sistemnoj-ujazvimosti-chast-1-levon-ter-petrosjan-arhitektor-postsovetskoj-ujazvimosti-prodolzhenie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armtribunal.com\/en\/2025\/12\/08\/kak-nachalas-katastrofa-v-armenii-ot-romantiki-nezavisimosti-k-sistemnoj-ujazvimosti-chast-1-levon-ter-petrosjan-arhitektor-postsovetskoj-ujazvimosti-prodolzhenie\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Current Catastrophic Situation in Armenia Began: From Romanticized Independence to Systemic Vulnerability \u2013 Part 1: LEVON TER-PETROSYAN \u2013 THE ARCHITECT OF POST-SOVIET VULNERABILITY (continuation)"},"content":{"rendered":"

How the Current Catastrophic Situation in Armenia Began: From Romanticized Independence to Systemic Vulnerability \u2013 Part 1<\/h3>

LEVON TER-PETROSYAN \u2013 THE ARCHITECT OF POST-SOVIET VULNERABILITY<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Outrage of the Early Independence Years: The Shadows of Siradeghyan and Vazgen<\/h3>
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\u00abWhen law falls silent, arbitrariness begins\u00bb.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Hovhanness Tumanyan<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n

Vazgen Sargsyan and Vano Siradeghyan are, indeed, among the most vivid - yet at the same time the most contradictory - symbols of the period under Levon Ter-Petrosyan\u2019s rule. Their names have entered the nation\u2019s political memory, where light and shadow are so tightly interwoven that, at times, they seem impossible to separate.<\/p>\n

With the consolidation of the Armenian Pan-National Movement (APNM), the country entered a decade that - as poet Paruyr Sevak would say - \u201cgives birth to heroes and destroys them without remorse.\u201d Reforms, the struggle for statehood, and diplomatic breakthroughs unfolded on the surface, while behind the scenes processes were taking shape that would later be described as the \u201cdark anatomy of the \u201990s.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

Vano Siradeghyan<\/strong> - a writer who became Minister of the Interior and a key figure in shaping the political architecture of the early 1990s - was surrounded from the outset by rumors, accusations, and conflicting recollections.<\/p>\n

Later, after Ter-Petrosyan\u2019s resignation, investigative bodies would charge him with organizing murders and orchestrating the disappearance of opposition members and other rivals. In 2000, Siradeghyan fled the country rather than await the final verdict. To the public, he remains a dual figure: both an architect of the system and a symbol of its ruthless side.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

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\u00abWhen power falls in love with itself, justice remains an orphan\u00bb.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Hovhanness Tumanyan<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n

Vazgen Sargsyan<\/strong> - mythologized as a hero of the war - remains a figure around whom disputes have not subsided for decades. The future prime minister was widely discussed even in those years, though often in a very different light. His role in the defense of Artsakh and in the establishment of the Armenian army is questioned by many, as no official evidence supports the narrative promoted by state propaganda that Sargsyan personally took part in or led any battles.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

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At the same time, the media and political circles of the early 1990s circulated reports that structures linked to Sargsyan exerted pressure on regional elites, participated in the forced redistribution of property, and - according to his opponents - helped form a \u201ccenter of power and influence\u201d operating outside the formal state institutions.<\/p>\n

Sargsyan\u2019s own statements, made later in 1996, are key to understanding the political logic of that era:<\/p>\n

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\u201cEven if the opposition received 100 percent of the vote, we would not let them come to power.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This phrase has come to symbolize the rejection of democratic standards in favor of what was described as \u201cstate necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

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\u00abWhen power gives way to outrage, crime begins\u00bb.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Raffi<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n

Robbery of Humanitarian Aid: Spitak\u2019s Shadow over the New Authorities<\/h3>
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After the Spitak earthquake of December 7, 1988, Armenia became one of the world\u2019s largest humanitarian hubs. Planes carrying medicine, warm clothing, tents, food, generators, and construction equipment arrived in Yerevan almost without pause. Shocked by the scale of the tragedy, the international community rushed to help.<\/p>\n

\"\u0417\u043e\u043d\u0430<\/p>\n

Yet, when the country entered a period of political turbulence in the early 1990s, many in Armenia began to raise chilling questions: Where had part of that aid disappeared to?<\/p>\n

The years 1992\u20131993 became a time of loud parliamentary statements, sharp newspaper headlines, and journalistic investigations - reports that, for the first time, dared to voice what had long been whispered in the endless queues for bread and basic supplies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

In February of 1993, the Hayk Newspaper reported:<\/p>\n

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\u201cFreight intended for the disaster zone, for some unknown reason, ended up in private warehouses. Who were those \u2018warehouse owners\u2019?\u201d\n(Source: Hayk Newspaper, Issue No. 23, 1993)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Golos Armenii newspaper published articles openly reflecting the public\u2019s growing discontent:<\/p>\n

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\u201cAid arrives by weight, disappears into thin air.\u201d\n(Source: Golos Armenii, March 1993)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

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These phrases have become part of the national memory - half-forgotten yet still present pages of history, from an era when humanitarian aid crates and political struggle became intertwined.<\/p>\n

It was in this atmosphere of distrust and accusation that Andranik Kocharyan entered the political scene as an active member of the APNM in the early 1990s, holding significant positions in the formation of the new state policy framework.<\/p>\n