Serzh Sargsyan (born 30 June 1954) was Prime Minister of Armenia from 4 April 2007 to 9 April 2008 (succeeding Andranik Margaryan and preceding Tigran Sargsyan) and from 17 to 23 April 2018 (succeeding Armen Sarkissian and preceding Karen Karapetyan), as well as President of Armenia from 9 April 2008 to 9 April 2018 (succeeding Robert Kocharyan and preceding Armen Sarkissian).
Biography[]
Serzh Sargsyan was born in Stepanakert, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union on 30 June 1954, and he started working at the Electrical Devices Factory in Yerevan in 1975. In 1979, he became head of the Stepanakert City Communist Party Youth Association Committee, and he later rose in the ranks of the Communist Party of Armenia. He served as Defense Minister of Armenia from 1993 to 1995 and as Interior Minister from 1996 to 1999 from 2000 to 2007, and he was appointed to succeed Andranik Margaryan as Prime Minister following his premature death. Sargsyan was then elected as President in 2008, and he blamed Azerbaijan for destabilizing the region due to its military buildup and its anti-Armenian policies. He also supported the existence of Kosovo due to Armenia's support for national self-determination, and he sought to normalize relations with Turkey. In April 2018, he was appointed Prime Minister in a power grab, and he was forced to resign after eleven days of large street protests against him.