Timeline: Armenia | A chronology of key events |

[MosJan]

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A chronology of key events:

 

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1915 - An estimated 1.75 million Armenians are massacred or deported from their homeland in Anatolia to present-day Syria. The Ottoman government had suspected them of harbouring pro-Russian sympathies.

 

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The capital Yerevan, whose history stretches back more than 2,500 years

 

1916 - Armenia is conquered by tsarist Russia. Joins alliance with Georgia and Azerbaijan.

 

1918 - Armenia becomes an independent republic.

 

1920 - Armenia is invaded by Turkey and Bolshevik Russia. An agreement with the Bolsheviks leads to Armenia proclaiming itself a socialist republic.

 

1922 - Armenia is incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR.

 

1930s - Armenians suffer under Stalin's purges, but the country also experiences industrial development.

 

The modern period

 

1988 - Encouraged by the new policy of openness ("glasnost"), Armenians begin to campaign for Nagorno-Artsax, a region with a predominantly Armenian population in the neighbouring Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, to be united with Armenia.

 

The 1988 earthquake brought massive destruction and misery

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1988 December - Earthquake in northern Armenia kills 25,000 and leaves hundreds of thousands homeless. The relief effort is slow and chaotic.

 

1989 - Conflict over Nagorno-Artsax begins. It lasts intermittently for five years. Many Azeri citizens are forced to flee their homes.

 

1990 - Armenian nationalists win parliamentary elections. Independence is declared, but ignored by Moscow.

 

1991 September - A referendum sees 94% vote for secession from the Soviet Union.

 

1991 October - Levon Ter-Petrossian re-elected president.

 

1991 December - Armenia joins the Commonwealth of Independent States, the successor to the Soviet Union. Armenia recognised as independent by the US.

 

Internal unrest

 

1992 - Armenia joins the United Nations. A trade and energy embargo is imposed by Azerbaijan. The conflict over Nagorno-Artsax continues.

 

1994 - Demonstrations in Yerevan over shortages of food and energy. A Russian-brokered ceasefire ends the Nagorno-Artsax conflict. The region is left a self-proclaimed republic, with ethnic Armenian forces in control of Azerbaijani territory surrounding Artsax.

 

1995 - The government launches privatisation and price liberalisation programme. Parliamentary elections return the ruling party. The powers of the president are widened.

 

1996 - Ter-Petrossian is re-elected president. Tanks are deployed on the streets of Yerevan to quell protests over alleged electoral fraud.

 

1998 - Ter-Petrossian resigns over opposition to his efforts to find a compromise with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Artsax. Robert Kocharian, a hardline nationalist, is elected president.

 

The 1999 parliament killings plunged Armenia into turmoil

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1999 - Gunmen, led by a local journalist Nairi Hunanyan, open fire in the Armenian parliament. The prime minister, parliamentary speaker and six other officials are killed. The gunmen accuse the government of leading Armenia into political and economic ruin. They say the desperate plight of the Armenian people is the reason for the killings.

 

2000 - A rally in Yerevan calls for the president to resign over his economic policies. Prime Minister Andranik Markarian admits that - 12 years on - those affected by the 1988 earthquake are still living in a disaster zone.

 

2001 - Armenia celebrates the 1,700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity.