Presidency
On inauguration day, the government led by Karen Karapetyan resigned and parties in the National Assembly had a week to put forward their proposals for prime minister. Former president Serzh Sargsyan was unanimously nominated by the members of ruling parties in the National Assembly on 16 April, and was confirmed as prime minister on 17 April. However, Sargysyan's election as prime minister was met by large-scale protests, known as The Velvet Revolution.
Armen Sarkissian is credited with playing a pivotal role in finding a peaceful solution, threatening to resign if there was any use of violence. He attained international attention when he walked into the crowds without security escort and interacted with the protesters. [4] An extensive profile of Sarkissian in the British magazine Spectator later observer that, "The Velvet Revolution was not preordained to be peaceful. It was Sarkissian's intervention that kept the peace."
Serzh Sargysyan resigned six days after taking the office. Karapetyan was subsequently appointed to serve as acting prime minister. On 8 May 2018, Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister by the National Assembly in a 59–42 vote.
Sarkissian visited Tbilisi on 26 May 2018 in his first official foreign visit to participate in the centennial celebrations of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. During his visit, he held talks with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili as well as held meetings with Bidzina Ivanishvili and Salome Zourabichvili.
In June 2018, Sarkissian proposed changes to the constitution to balance the President's power with the Prime Minister's power. On the eve of the centennial anniversary of the end to First World War, Sarkissian told the Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen in an interview said that he would say the following to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in regards to the Armenian genocide:
"First, I would tell him good morning Mr. President, I think we have an issue to discuss together. You are the President of Turkey and I am the President of Armenia. My family, my grandparents are from Erzrum, Van and Bitlis and there is a history behind my own family. Why not start talking about the relations between Turkey and Armenia? Why not speak about our individual stories?"
While visiting the Kazakhstani city of Almaty in May 2019, he said that his country could become an "international financial center" and can become a "cooperation bridge between Eurasia and EU". He said his remarks at the 15th annual Eurasian Media Forum, of which he was a co-founder.
In 2018, Sarkissian founded the Armenian chapter of the international Summit of Minds in the spa town of Dilijan. The annual summits drew various heads of state, industrialists, bankers, investors and thinkers to Armenia.
During the 44-day-war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Sarkissian was described by foreign observers of Armenia as the country's strongest diplomatic asset. But due to the limits placed on his office by the Constitution, he was not allowed to play a role in the management of the war or the subsequent diplomatic negotiations. [5] This was seen as a major factor in his subsequent decision to step down. [6]
In October 2021, Sarkissian made a historic visit to Saudi Arabia, becoming the first Armenian official to visit the kingdom. Since Armenia and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations, the visit was groundbreaking. Sarkissian was said to have used his personal relationships to make it happen. He was received by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. [7]
Sarkissian was also subject of often lurid conspiracy theories in some sections of the Armenian press, which routinely accused him of being a British spy, adducing as evidence for the allegations his friendships with British politicians and the then-Prince of Wales (now Charles III, who visited Armenia as a private guest of Sarkissian's in 2013. [8]
Sarkissian had long expressed frustration with the constraints on the presidency and the government's refusal to honour its pledge to reform the Constitution. He had hinted to the British magazine The Spectator that he would resign if the Constitution remained unchanged, saying "I did not accept this job to feel honoured. I accepted it to serve Armenia. And I will not stay in it a second longer if it means impeding Armenia's progress." [9]
In January 2022, Sarkissian resigned as President, issuing a strongly-worded statement in which he called attention to Armenia's "paradoxical situation, where the President performs the functions of the guarantor of statehood having no real tools" and described the country as a "parliamentary republic in shape, but not in content". Sarkissian said Armenians were being forced to live:
In a peculiar reality where the President cannot influence issues related to war and peace. In a reality where he cannot veto those bills that he considers inappropriate for the state and people. In a reality where the President's capabilities are not perceived as an advantage for the state but are viewed as a threat to various political groups. In a reality where the President cannot use a crucial part of his potential to solve systemic domestic and foreign policy issues. In a reality where the world appears to be a zone of constant turbulence and the President does not have the constitutional tools to help his country. In a reality where the head of state and sometimes even his family become targets for attacks by various political groups… I thought it thoroughly and decided to resign as the President of the Republic of Armenia after almost four years of active work. This step of mine is entirely non-emotional and comes from a certain logic. In the current challenging period for the state and the nation, the President does not have the necessary tools to influence the fundamental processes in domestic and foreign policy. [10]
Days after Sarkissian's resignation and the publication of the real reasons of his resignation (see above), the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project alleged that Sarkissian possessed a St. Kitts and Nevis passport. Under Armenian law, the president is not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Sarkissian denied that his decision was connected with the OCCRP report, which was published after he had left office. He explained that he had made a historic investment of $500,000 in a luxury hotel in St. Kitts and Nevis, which has conferred citizenship on foreign investors under a "citizenship-by-investment" programme since 1984. [11] Sarkissian clarified that he had renounced his right to citizenship under the programme.
Sarkissian had long been the target of frenzied speculation and allegations, including the claim that he had not disclosed his private wealth and that he was actively engaged as director in an overseas company while serving as President. Following a lengthy investigation that lasted more than a year after Sarkissian's resignation, the Corruption Prevention Commission of Armenia found the allegations to be baseless. It also noted that Sarkissian had in fact made a full disclosure of all his private income. [12]
In the early stages of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Sarkissian gave numerous interviews to international news organizations during which he appealed for action against the Government of Turkey and the actions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, telling CNBC's Hadley Gamble to "Imagine Caucasus becoming another Syria?" In another interview to the German Bild tabloid, he compared the situation in Stepanakert to German towns during World War II.
After the ceasefire agreement was signed in early November, Sarkissian held a meeting with Karekin II, where they both made a call to declare 22 November as the Day of Remembrance of the Heroes who fell for the Defense of the Motherland in the Artsakh Liberation War.
On 10 November, as Armenia was gripped by protests against the prime minister, Sarkissian publicly called for Pashinyan's resignation. On 16 November, in an address to the nation, he concluded that snap parliamentary elections were essential in light of the protests, proposing the creation of an interim "National Accord Government" to oversee the process of stabilising the country and holding fresh elections. In early 2021, he called for the creation of a "Fourth Republic".
