Soviet and Armenian politician Demirchyan Karen has always enjoyed the respect and love of his people. After the collapse of the USSR, he retired from political activity and only at the numerous requests of the inhabitants of Armenia decided to return to power and took the post of speaker of parliament, which turned out to be a tragedy for him. In 1999, during one of the sittings of the RA People's Assembly, a group of terrorists seized the parliament building and opened fire throughout the hall, in particular at the presidium. One of the bullets inflicted a mortal wound on the former first secretary of the ASSR. Thus, Demirchyan Karen Serobovich died at the age of 67 from a terrorist bullet.
Biography
The great Armenian politician Demirchyan Karen Serobovich was born in April 1932 in Yerevan, the capital of the Armenian SSR. His parents were from Western Armenia. Both are orphans who were able to escape the Turkish massacre. They met in an orphanage in Alexandropol (now Gyumri). Both were from intelligent families, from which excellent genes were passed on to them. They were bornsons Kamo and Demirchyan Karen (his date of birth is April 17). From childhood, the future first secretary was distinguished by diligence and curiosity. In addition, he stood out among his peers with his external data. He studied "excellent" and graduated with a medal from the school. 26 commissioners. Then the guy continued his studies at the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. K. Marx. And he was able to overcome this height with honors - a red diploma. Karen graduated as a mechanical engineer.
Work activity
After graduation, he was sent to work in Leningrad. Here he very soon became the head of the design team in one of the institutes involved in the defense industry of the Soviet Union. Then he was waiting for a transfer to the capital of the country. However, Demirchyan Karen refused this and asked to be transferred to his hometown. In Yerevan, he first received the position of a foreman in an electrical plant, and then a process engineer. Thanks to his knowledge and diligence, the young man made a successful career and soon became the head of the foundry. Here he worked for 10 years. Everyone loved Karen, from workers to bosses. He was always respectful even to laborers. There was not a single person in a huge team who would not remember him with special warmth, and sometimes with gratitude.
Party education
Along with work at the factory, Demirchyan Karen studied at the Higher Party School. This was a prerequisite for a future career. Thanks to his diploma, he managed to become a directornative factory. Over the years of his work, this company has managed to reach new heights. And for Demirchyan, this became a kind of "runway" to new heights.
Public and political activities
In 1962, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Armenian SSR, Yakov Zurabyan, applied to the Center with a request to allow the construction of a memorial in memory of the victims of the 1915 genocide, or rather, the Armenians who died during the First World War, in Yerevan. It was then that Karen Demirchyan, whose family was directly related to those tragic events, expressed his readiness to contribute to the construction of the memorial. In 1971, he received a promotion and became the 2nd secretary of the city committee of the Communist Party of Yerevan, and after 3 years - already the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Armenian SSR, that is, the first person of the country.
He was a staunch supporter of change and did everything possible to raise his country to a qualitatively new level of development. Those who came to Armenia in those years immediately noticed these changes. The time of his leadership became a period of prosperity for Armenia. He was the first head of the Armenian SSR who publicly stated his position on the events of 1915, i.e. the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Also, Karen Serobovich was the first who, on April 24, 1977, went up to the monument in memory of the victims and laid a wreath. Further, he conceived a grandiose construction on the same hill as the memorial. Soon the center gave permission for the creation of the Tsitsernakaberd sports and concert complex.
Case in life
To this building hetreated like his own child. He was interested in everything that was connected with him. When the building was completely rebuilt, Karen Serobovich Demirchyan (photo posted in the article) rejoiced like a child or like a proud father of a newborn in front of the maternity hospital door. However, a few days later, a fire broke out over the building of the complex. Many considered it almost a terrorist act.
The first secretary of the CP stood and watched the firefighters fight the fire, and tears of resentment welled up in his eyes. Then a hunched woman came up to him and, holding out a few banknotes, said that she was ready to sacrifice her pension for the sake of restoring Tsitsernakaberd. Even more moved, Demirchyan Karen leaned over to the old woman, thanked her for her kindness and said that the state had enough money for restoration, and he promised her to do it as soon as possible, right by Victory Day. And he kept his promise. At the concert dedicated to May 9, the same grandmother was sitting next to him in the box.
The beginning of the Karabakh movement
In the late 80s, when a wave of nationalist movements took place in the USSR, the statesman Demirchyan Karen (you can see his photo in the article), already known in the center as a nationalist, was forced to leave the political arena. During the years of the Karabakh war, he headed the "Arm-electron" plant and, as always, enjoyed universal respect. In 1996, during the presidential elections in Armenia, the republic was divided into two camps - supporters of the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was running for a second term, andVazgen Manukyan, the former prime minister of the country. Both sides were unwilling to make concessions, and although the incumbent won the election, the people were unwilling to admit it.
And then the people suddenly began to say that if Karen Demirchyan had returned to the political arena, then the split of the nation could have been avoided. The murmur of the people with a request to return to power reached him. And then Karen Serobovich decides to found a new People's Party of the Republic of Armenia. Every day its ranks were replenished with new members who linked their future with Karen Demirchyan. In the parliamentary elections, the party he created unites with the Republican party and wins in tandem with it. At the very first meeting, K. Demirchyan is elected speaker of the parliament. During the short term of his reign, he was able to do a lot for the country and would have done even more if not for the tragic events.
On October 27, 1999, his life was cut short as a result of an armed attack on the building of the People's Assembly. He was among 8 victims who died while doing their duty to the Motherland. Today, streets in Yerevan, the Tsitsernakaberd complex and a school are named after him. Every resident of Armenia remembers him with regret and thinks that everything would be much better in the country if Karen Demirchyan continued to rule it.
