Armen Sarkisyan

Armen Sarkisyan visiting the US Department of State , 2018

Armen Sarkissyan ( Armenian Արմեն Սարգսյան , transcription Armen Sargsyan , in scientific transliteration Armen Sargsyan ; born June 23, 1953 in Yerevan , Armenian SSR , Soviet Union ) is an Armenian physicist, computer scientist, entrepreneur, diplomat and politician. Sarkissian was Prime Minister of Armenia from November 4, 1996 to March 20, 1997 . He has been President of his country since April 9, 2018 . On January 23, 2022 he announced his resignation.

In accordance with the Armenian constitution, the acting President of the National Assembly , Alen Simonyan , will temporarily assume office until a successor is elected .

Professional career

From 1976 to 1984 Armen Sarkissyan was a professor of physics at Yerevan State University . From 1984 he worked as a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge . From 1988 to 1992 he worked as the head of the institute at the Faculty of Theoretical Physics, in the department of computer simulations of complex physical phenomena (the Armenian SSR was a center of the Soviet computer industry). Sarkisyan credits himself as one of the original authors of the popular computer game Tetris , developed in 1985 at the Moscow Academy of Sciences . Overall, Sarkissian has written more than 50 scientific papers.

When Armenia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, then-President Levon Ter-Petrosian asked Sarkissian to open the first Armenian embassy in the western world in London. At the same time he took over the embassy for Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Vatican and the European Union and became Deputy Foreign Minister.

From November 4, 1996 to March 20, 1997 he was Prime Minister of Armenia. Sarkissian describes administrative reforms, the fight against corruption , liberalization, privatization of the media, acceleration of market reforms and strengthening of democratic institutions as the focal points of his work. His successor was Robert Kocharyan , who later became President.

In 1998 he was re-appointed Ambassador to London. From 1999 to 2000 he was a Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development . Since 2000, Sarkissian has taught at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. He founded the non-governmental organization Eurasia House International for cooperation between the West, the CIS countries and China.

In addition to his scientific and political commitment, Sarkissjan is also commercially active, including founding the company Cambridge Pharmaceuticals and working as a consultant for corporations such as Alcatel , Telefónica , BP , Finmeccanica and Bekaert . He has been a member of the World Economic Forum in Davos since 2002 .

On March 2, 2018, the members of the Armenian parliament elected him as the country's new president by a majority of 90 votes to 10 and one abstention; there was no opposing candidate. His predecessor Sersch Sargsyan was not allowed to run again after two terms in office. Sarkissian took office on April 9, 2018, and his term of office lasts seven years.

awards

In 1997, Pope John Paul II awarded him the Order of Gregory .

web links

Commons : Armen Sarkissian  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

1. ↑ https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/armenien-ruecktritt-101.html
2. ↑ dpa January 23, 2022: Armenia's President Sarkissian resigns
3. ↑ https://news.am/eng/news/683430.html
4. ↑ ^{a b} Tetris game ( Memento of March 11, 2007 at the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Armenian Parliament elects Armen Sarkissian as President. Deutsche Welle , March 2, 2018, accessed the following day.