[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 150 (Friday, October 29, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ASSASSINATION IN ARMENIA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 28, 1999

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, on October 27, 1999, a group of five or 
six assassins burst into Armenia's parliament and gunned down Armenian 
Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian. The gunmen also claimed the lives of 
Karen Demirchian, Speaker of the Armenian parliament; Yuri Bakhshyan, 
Deputy Speaker; Minister Leonard Petrosian, and Michael Kutanian, a 
senior economic official. Two other unidentified members of parliament 
were dead, too.
  Words cannot adequately describe the deplorable and disgusting acts 
of violence committed by those individuals. To indiscriminately murder 
government officials in cold blood is cowardly.
  Recent reports describe the gunmen have taken a number of hostages, 
and President Robert Kocharian is negotiating with the gunmen. 
Kocharian agreed to allow the lead gunman on national television to 
make a statement in return for the release of some hostages.
  Unfortunately, the other details are still very sketchy. We do not 
know why they did what they did although they proclaim their actions as 
a coup d'etat. All we know is that the senseless slaughter of those 
government officials strikes a blow to democracy in Armenia.
  As some may know, Armenia, a democratic nation with a population of 
3.5 million, people, has made much progress since the Armenian genocide 
in 1915. The Ottoman Empire subjected the Armenians to an eight-year 
long killing spree that ultimately claimed the lives of over 1.5 
million Armenians. Hundreds and thousands more were forced from their 
homeland. We all know that rebuilding a ravaged nation requires much 
blood, sweat, and tears, but the Armenian people have worked long and 
hard to make Armenia into the democratic nation it is today. The 
Armenian government under the late Prime Minister Sargsian was headed 
for even greater progress. The commitment to peace and prosperity in 
their region was clear.
  I am very saddened by the horrific events and deeply concerned by the 
bloodshed and senseless loss of lives, but this only goes to show that 
democracy is not just an obscure ideal ensconced in an old written 
parchment or in dusty history books sitting in the garage. Democracy is 
an ideal that government should be for the people. Democracy is an 
ideal that many people have sacrificed their lives for, and in some 
parts of the world, people continue to sacrifice their lives for.
  Mr. Speaker, my prayers are with the people of Armenia and Armenian-
Americans as we all pray that this will be resolved peacefully without 
further bloodshed and the angel of justice exacts just payment from 
those murderers.

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