Armenia Unitary state

History and trends

Armenia is a semi-presidential republic. Its constitution was adopted on 5 July 1995.
The present-day country is the legacy of an ancient civilisation spanning Asia and Europe, standing at the crossroads of rival cultural, religious and political movements and a battleground for the region’s empires. Its history is marked by successive phases of independence and dependence, unification and break-up.

The last Kingdom of Cilicia (in Asia Minor) disappeared at the end of the Crusades (1375). The nascent state was situated in the Caucasian region of the country, conquered by Russia from Persia and the Ottoman Empire in 1828.

Throughout the 19th century, Tsarist policy resulted in successive administrative divisions intended to prevent the formation of unified entities that, at a time of emerging nationalism, might nurture separatist or independence tendencies.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 left the Caucasians facing Turkey alone. They formed the Transcaucasian Federation in April 1918, although it subsequently dissolved under pressure from Turkey. Following the example of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia was proclaimed on 28 May 1918 and recognised by the Treaty of Batum on 4 June 1918.

This move saw the birth of the first independent republic on 28 May 1918, amid the chaos of World War I and the break-up of the Russian Empire. Faced with a multitude of problems – famine, epidemics, an influx of refugees, and border disputes with Georgia and Azerbaijan – its leaders failed in their quest to unite Armenia’s territories and people under an internationally recognised democratic, sovereign state.

The country was left to fend for itself by the Allies, despite having called for the creation of a “United Armenia” in the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). Caught in the crossfire between the Atatürkist Turks and the Red Army, Armenia fell under Soviet rule in December 1920, losing the regions of Nakhchivan and Karabakh to Azerbaijan, and Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe to Georgia, in the process. Despite failing to achieve genuine sovereignty, Armenia retained its status as a state.

Following a final, failed uprising (February-July 1921), Armenia was assimilated into the USSR as one of three members of the Transcaucasian Federation (December 1922), and became a Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936.

From wartime communism, through to the Stalinist era and the time of Gorbachev, Armenia – like the other Soviet Socialist republics – experienced the full history of the USSR and each and every face of the totalitarian regime. Uniquely, however, its national question remained unresolved – as evidenced by the mutilation of its territory and the existence of a diaspora that held onto the ideal of a “free, independent and reunified Armenia”.

In the aftermath of World War II, Moscow’s attempts to expand to the east brought the Armenian question back to the fore. The Soviet authorities organised a mass repatriation of the Armenian diaspora (100,000 returnees in 1946-1948) and claimed the territories granted to the independent republic by the Treaty of Sèvres. This move sparked one of the earliest crises of the Cold War. Yet disappointment among the “repatriated” diaspora reflected a sense of nostalgia and the broken promises made in the propaganda. From 1956 onwards, many of them emigrated once again amid repression, discrimination and material deprivation.

Nevertheless, its ties with the diaspora made Armenia an exceptionally outward-looking country. The post-Stalinist thaw saw selective restoration of the country’s culture and past, and the re-emergence of a national intelligentsia that had been decimated by Stalin’s purges, which sparked greater awareness of Armenia’s past.

The Perestroika movement saw recurring claims – linguistic, cultural, environmental, territorial and autonomist – rise to the surface once again. In February 1988, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast – part of Azerbaijan but populated primarily by ethnic Armenians (80%) – voted in favour of reunification with Armenia. This was one of the triggers that sparked nationalist sentiment across the USSR, as well as the democratic movement in Armenia.

The vote resulted in anti-Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan, causing population displacement on a massive scale and conflict between Armenians and Azeris. Moscow’s policy of neutralising one nationalist movement with another served only to radicalise opposition to the regime. The Pan-Armenian National Movement, which arose from the Karabakh Committee, won the legislative elections in summer 1990 on a manifesto to achieve independence through constitutional means.

The electorate voted in favour of independence at the 21 September 1991 referendum. The collapse of the USSR accelerated the process of international recognition. Armenia, which reinstated the red, blue and orange flag and the anthem of the first independent republic (1918-1920), became a member of the UN, the CSCE, the IMF, the World Bank, Interpol, the WTO and other international organisations.

France was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, signing a treaty of friendship in March 1993. Despite having a policy of openness towards Turkey and Iran and prioritising relations with countries with large ethnic Armenian communities, Armenia became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) upon its creation in December 1991.

The country has experienced three waves of institutional reforms. The first focused on the legal framework around the market economy, the constitution and the judicial system. Then, following Armenia’s accession to the Council of Europe (2001), it ratified European conventions and harmonised its domestic laws.

The constitution of 5 July 1995, inspired by the French constitution of 1958, established a strong presidential regime (president elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term, and for a maximum of two consecutive terms). The constitutional reform of 2005 adjusted the balance of power marginally in favour of the legislative and judicial branches, and allowed for the Mayor of Yerevan to be elected (instead of appointed by the executive branch, as previously), in the same manner as the chief executives of the other 10 regions. The death penalty was abolished in 2003.

Despite its reputation as a pioneer for democratisation, Armenia remains beset by authoritarian tendencies and political upheaval.

Plans to amend the constitution and create a parliamentary system were approved by referendum in December 2015. The move is contested by the opposition, which suspects the president – whose term of office ends in 2018 – of attempting to use the reform to cling onto power. As such, it has done little to calm political tensions in the country. In April 2017, the ruling party held onto its absolute majority at the legislative elections. Karen Karapetyan, the Prime Minister since 2016, remained in post and has pledged to fast-track the reforms with support from the IMF and the European Union.

Armenia is a member of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), an organisation created by Turkey in June 1992. Turkey has recognised the Republic of Armenia but sides with Azerbaijan in the dispute over Karabakh and the oil pipelines and railways.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has now become an international conflict and has claimed more than 30,000 lives and created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides, directly impacts domestic political life, as well as external relations and alliances. Armenia’s refusal to accept Azerbaijan’s claim to Nagorno-Karabakh – coupled with Turkey’s refusal to recognise the Armenian genocide – is the main barrier to normalising relations between the two countries.