From Armenia in brief: Tenth anniversary of October 27 assassinations commemorated

by M. T.

Published: Saturday October 31, 2009

Monument to the victims of October 27, a work by Ervand Kochar. Hayk Badalian / Photolure

Yerevan - On October 27, 1999, Speaker of the National Assembly Karen Demirchyan, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, Deputy Speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, Minister Leonid Petrosyan, and members of parliament Armenak Armenakyan, Michael Kotanyan, and Henrich Abramyan were gunned down in the Armenian parliament. This year marked the 10th anniversary of those killings, which sent shock waves throughout the country.

On October 27 a  monument was erected in the courtyard of Armenia's National Assembly to honor the victims of that crime. Taking part in the ceremonies were President Serge Sargsyan, Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, and other dignitaries and families of those who were killed.

The group of terrorists that stormed the parliament a decade earlier was headed by Nairi Hunanyan and included his brother Karen Hunanyan, Eduard Grigoryan, Vram Galstyan, and Derenik Bejanyan. On October 2, 2003, the court sentenced them to life imprisonment. Mr. Galstyan committed suicide while in prison in April 2004.

During the unveiling ceremonies of the monument, Rima Demirchyan, the widow of Karen Demirchyan - who was also a Soviet-era leader of the Armenian republic - said that although 10 years had elapsed, no one had forgotten that tragic day that took the lives of eight members of the country's leadership. "The October 27 assassination not only broke our hearts and left an incurable wound, it shattered the basis of our statehood, divided our public and till now we bear the consequences," she said.

The monument in memory of the victims of October 27 is by Ervand Kochar (1899-1997).