Today marks 27 years since the terrorist attack carried out in the Armenian parliament on 27 October 1999.
Globalinfo.az reports that on 27 October 1999, a criminal group led by Nairi Hunanyan entered the parliament and opened fire on the session hall with firearms.
Members of the group that carried out the crime took several people hostage. Eight people, including then Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan, were killed during the incident.
The trial of the terrorists began in February 2001 and continued until December 2003. Seven people who took part in the incident stood trial. Six of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, while one received a 14-year prison term.
The motive behind the attack has never been fully disclosed. According to conspiracy theories, the parliamentary attack was carried out to derail the active peace negotiations over Karabakh at the time. Some experts even described the ongoing talks of that period as “the last real chance for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
There are also allegations that Robert Kocharyan, who was president at the time, and Serzh Sargsyan, the then national security minister, were behind the incident. Nevertheless, the organizers of the 27 October attack have still not been identified.
Aliyar Khalil
Globalinfo.az
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