Career
After completing his education, in 1979, Serzh was appointed by the 'Stepanakert City Communist Party Youth Association Committee', as its head. For the next eleven years he served in various positions like the first and second Secretary of the association, and later Division Head of the 'Stepanakert City Committee Propaganda'.
He was also the Unit Instructor of 'Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee Communist Organizations', and eventually the First Secretary of the ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Regional Committee’, Genrikh Poghosyan's deputy.
In 1990, Sargsyan was made the Chairman of the 'Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Self-Defence Forces Committee'. Later he became a member of the country's 'Supreme Council', during which he contributed greatly to the ethnic war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The political leader was appointed as the Minister of Defence three years later, in 1993.
In 1995, he was made the Head of the State Security Department, of Armenia, and was promoted to the post of Minister of National Security, a year later.
During 1999-2007, Serzh served in prestigious positions like Chief of Staff, Secretary of the 'National Security Council' and the Defence Minister, all under the presidency of Robert Kocharyan. Towards the end of the same period, on April 4, the Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan suddenly passed away, and Sargsyan replaced him.
In 2008, the new Prime Minister, contested in the presidential elections, representing the ‘Republican Party of Armenia’, and won the elections with 53% votes. His political rival Levon Ter-Petrossian, who was defeated by a wide margin, argued that the elections had been rigged. The latter's supporters protest marches ended in the deaths of ten citizens, and an emergency period of 20 days.
On April 9, the newly elected President took office, with the ceremony being held in the 'Opera House', in the country's capital city, Yerevan. The political leader chose the Chairman of 'Central Bank', Tigran Sargsyan, as his Prime minister.
Several positive changes were introduced during Sargsyan's presidency, including effective implementation of freedom of press and speech, as well as the widespread use of the internet. Internet operation increased substantially, leading to the introduction of blogs and other forms of online media.
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On September 25, 2008, he delivered his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly, held in New York. He expressed concern over global issues like war, especially the one taking place between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing on the help that the UN could offer.
Two months later, Serzh went to Moscow, along with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. There they met former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, where they signed a statement agreeing to assemble constantly for peace talks.
The same year, the Armenian President promised to improve international relationships with Turkey. For this purpose, Abdullah Gül, the President of Turkey was invited for a FIFA match between the two countries, to be held at a later date.
Despite some promising improvements, Armenia's economy suffered during Sargsyan's presidency, since the 'Great Recession' took place around the same time. The country’s GDP was rated the fifth worst by the ‘World Bank, in 2009. By the end of his first term, occurrences of poverty had shot up to twice the earlier count.
On October 10, 2009, the authorities of Armenia and Turkey signed a peace treaty in Geneva, Switzerland, agreeing to allow free access between the two countries, through the border.
In 2011, further measures were taken by the Armenian President to reduce fraudulent practices in the country. All government services were made possible through online portals, thus reducing the chances of officials accepting bribes. Government authorities were taken to task whenever there were any allegations of corrupt actions.
Two years later, on February 18, Serzh was elected for a second term of presidency, after he won the 2013 elections. This too led to protests by the opposition, on claims that the voting was tampered with.
During his second term, the president decided to become a member of the 'Eurasian Economic Union' ('EEU'), along with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The concord, aiming at free trade between member countries, and other means of promoting better relations, was agreed upon on October 9, 2014, coming into effect early the following year.
