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1 1 (May 5, 1998)

handle is hein.crs/crsaauk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 98-430 F May 5, 1998 Armenia: Unexpected Change in Government Carol Migdalovitz Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division Summary This report describes the recent change in the Armenian government and its possible consequences. President Levon Ter-Petrosyan resigned on February 3, 1998, primarily because of domestic opposition to his acceptance of an international peace plan to resolve the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh with Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan assumed power for an interim period and then won the special presidential election of March 1998. His new government wants to advance market reforms and change the Constitution to balance power among the branches of government. Kocharyan rejects the Karabakh peace plan, and has enunciated principles for negotiations that may complicate resolving the conflict. The United States may need to adjust its policies in the region to meet new realities. This product will not be updated. CRS Issue Brief 1B95024, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests; and CRS Issue Brief 1B92109, Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict are related reports updated regularly. Background Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first President of independent Armenia, resigned on February 3, 1998. Ter-Petrosyan had been an active member of the Karabakh Committee created in 1988 to advocate unification with Armenia of the mostly Armenian-inhabited Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In 1989, members of the Karabakh Committee formed the Armenian National Movement (ANM) to work politically on Armenian issues within the then-rapidly changing Soviet system and won seats in the Armenian Supreme Soviet or parliament. In August 1990, parliament elected Ter-Petrosyan from among six candidates to be President; a communist was his main opponent. Ter-Petrosyan was elected President of independent Armenia with 83% of the vote in an October 1991 national election that was widely lauded as both free and fair. Ter-Petrosyan's main objective as President was to ensure the survival of Armenia as an independent state, a status it had enjoyed only from 1918-20 during the twentieth century. Ter-Petrosyan's commitment to democracy was questioned as he apparently came to regard the legitimate political opposition as a threat to his goal. In June 1992, Congressional Research Service **** The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web

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