Armen Sarkissian

Armen Sarkissian
Արմեն Սարգսյան
4th President of Armenia
Assumed office
9 April 2018
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
Preceded by Serzh Sargsyan
5th Prime Minister of Armenia
In office
4 November 1996 – 20 March 1997
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Preceded by Hrant Bagratyan
Succeeded by Robert Kocharyan
Ambassador of Armenia to the United Kingdom
In office
1998 – 8 April 2018
President Robert Kocharyan
Serzh Sargsyan
Prime Minister Armen Darbinyan
Vazgen Sargsyan
Aram Sargsyan
Andranik Margaryan
Serzh Sargsyan
Tigran Sargsyan
Hovik Abrahamyan
Karen Karapetyan
Succeeded by Armen Liloyan (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1953-06-23) 23 June 1953
Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Armenian
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Nouneh Sarkissian
Children 2
Occupation Politician, physicist, computer scientist
Signature

Armen Vardani Sarkissian (Armenian: Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան;[note 1] born 23 June 1953) is an Armenian physicist, computer scientist and politician, who currently serves as the incumbent President of Armenia.[1] He served as Prime Minister of Armenia from 4 November 1996 to 20 March 1997 and previously was the country's (longest-serving) ambassador in London since 1998. Sarkissian assumed the presidency on 9 April 2018.[2]

He was also one of the co-creators of the Tetris-Wordtris game.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Career

Sarkissian graduated from the Yerevan State University Department of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics.

He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the National Competitiveness Council of Armenia.

From 1976 to 1984, he was a professor of Physics at Yerevan State University and subsequently Head of the Department of Computer Modeling of Complex Systems at the same university's Department of Theoretical Physics.

He later became a visiting research fellow and eventually a professor at the University of Cambridge.[10][11]

Political career

In October 1991, Sarkissian established the Armenian Embassy in London, the first Armenian diplomatic mission in the West. In addition to his diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom, he went on to become Senior Ambassador of Armenia to the European Union (EU), to Belgium and the Netherlands, Luxembourg and The Vatican. In 1995-1996, he was the Head of Mission of Armenia to the European Union.

After serving as Armenian Prime Minister between 1996 and 1997, he was appointed as Special Advisor to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and as a Governor of EBRD from 1998 to 2000.

He was re-appointed Armenian Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1998 and served until he was elected president on April 9, 2018.

Armen Sarkissian was also one of the directors of Eurasia House.[12] and Vice Chairman of the EastWest Institute. He held many honorary and executive positions in a number of international organizations including Member of Dean's Advisory Board at Kennedy School of Governance at Harvard University, Dean's Advisory Board at Harris School of Public Policy Studies at University of Chicago, Board member of International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), the International Economic Alliance and Global Leadership Foundation. He was an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the School of Mathematical Sciences at Queen Mary and Westfield College (now Queen Mary University of London).

He was a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law.

Since 2013 he has served on the board of trustees of the International School in Dilijan, Armenia. In January 2018, he received Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's offer to be the ruling Republican Party's nominee in the country's first presidential election since the 2015 constitutional reforms.[13]

Prime Minister of Armenia

Dr. Sarkissian was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia in 1996, serving until 1997.

President of Armenia

Election

President Serzh Sargsyan on 19 January 2018 recommended the candidacy of Sarkissian, for President to be supported by the ruling Republican Party during the 2018 Armenian presidential election. He also enjoyed additional support from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation bloc as well as from the Tsarukian Parliamentary bloc.

He was elected president by a majority of the National Assembly on 2 March 2018 with 90 votes in a 105-member House.[1] Sarkissian was the only candidate in the election.

Inauguration

Sarkissian was inaugurated on 9 April 2018. The inauguration ceremony took place at the Karen Demirchyan Complex in Yerevan.[14][15][16] After the ceremony, he visited the Yerablur military pantheon, and laid a wreath at the monument with Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan.[17]

Presidency

Sarkissian meets with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
With Sergio Mattarella.

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.[18] 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.[19] However, Sargsyan's election as prime minister was met by large-scale protests, and he resigned six days after taking the office.[20] Karapetyan was subsequently appointed to serve as acting prime minister.[21]

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.[22] During his visit, he held talks with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili as well as held meetings with Bidzina Ivanishvili and Sauli Niinistö.[23][24]

In June 2018, Sarkissian proposed changes to the constitution to balance the President's power with the Prime Minister's power.[25]

Awards

Domestic

  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland 1st degree - (15 September 2017)[26]
  • St. Gregory the Great Award (1997) - bestowed by Pope John Paul II.
  • St. Gregory the Illuminator medal (2008) - the highest honour of the Armenian Apostolic Church - by Karekin II, Catholicos Patriarch of All Armenians of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Foreign

Notes

  1. ↑ His surname is also rendered as Sargsyan. As director of Eurasia House, he uses the spelling Armen Sarkissian, which is the French transcription of his name in Russian (Армен Саркисян). On former Soviet passports, the Russian names were usually transcribed to Latin alphabet using a French transcription system since French was the language used on it as the diplomatic language.

References

  1. 1 2 "Armen Sarkisian (No Relation) Elected Next Armenian President". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  2. ↑ "Armenia lawmakers elect president as leader eyes 'super' powers - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  3. ↑ gamespot.com, Wordtris – Credits
  4. ↑ showsotros.com, Video Game Title: "Wordtris"
  5. ↑ mobygames.com, Wordtris (SNES)
  6. ↑ "Tetris-Wordtris co-creator nommed for Armenia president's post". Panarmenian.Net. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  7. ↑ https://armenpress.am/eng/news/922634/potential-presidential-candidate-armen-sarkissian-presents-story-behind-creating-tetris.html
  8. ↑ "eurasia » Armen Sarkissian". Eurasiahouse.com. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  9. ↑ http://www.aravot-en.am/2018/02/14/207704/
  10. ↑ "Former Cambridge Professor to become candidate for Armenian President | News | The Cambridge Student". Tcs.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  11. ↑ "Armen Sarkissian | World Economic Forum". Weforum.org. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  12. ↑ "eurasia". www.eurasiahouse.com. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  13. ↑ Source Panorama.am. "Armen Sarkissian elected fourth President of Armenia - Panorama | Armenian news". Panorama.am. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  14. ↑ "Armenia President-elect expected to take oath of office at Yerevan sports, concert complex". News.am. 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  15. ↑ "Armenia's new president to be sworn in at Demirchyan sports and concert complex". Arka.am. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  16. ↑ APA IT. "Presidential inauguration held in Armenia". M.apa.az. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  17. ↑ "President Armen Sarkissian visits Yerablur Pantheon | Public Radio of Armenia". Armradio.am. 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  18. ↑ "Armenia's Ruling Party 'Open' To Opposition Candidates For PM". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  19. ↑ "Lawmakers Approve Sarkisian As Armenia's PM Despite Countrywide Protests". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  20. ↑ Hairenik (2018-04-23). "Breaking: Serge Sarkisian Resigns as Prime Minister". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  21. ↑ EADaily. "Karen Karapetyan to be Armenian acting prime minister". Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  22. ↑ Tbilisi: 15 Jul 2018, 20:34 EN (2018-05-25). "Armenian President visits Georgia to join May 26 celebrations". Agenda.ge. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  23. ↑ 09:09, 26.05.2018 (2018-05-26). "Armenia President in Tbilisi, meets with Georgia ex-PM (PHOTOS)". News.am. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  24. ↑ Source Panorama.am. "President Sarkissian meets with his Finnish counterpart - Panorama | Armenian news". Panorama.am. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  25. ↑ "Armenian President: Yerevan Lacks Constitutional Balance". Voanews.com. 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  26. ↑ "ՀՀ նախագահի հրամանագրերը - Փաստաթղթեր - Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Նախագահ [պաշտոնական կայք]". President.am. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  27. ↑ https://armenpress.am/eng/amp/942263
Government offices
Preceded by
Serzh Sargsyan		 President of Armenia
2018–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Hrant Bagratyan		 Prime Minister of Armenia
1996–1997		 Succeeded by
Robert Kocharyan
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