Vano Siradeghyan

In 1988, Siradeghyan became one of the main members of the Karabakh Committee, which demanded that the Soviet authorities transfer the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR. In December 1989, Siradeghyan and other leading members of the Karabakh Committee were arrested, but were freed in May 1990. The Pan-Armenian National Movement was founded by members of the Karabakh Committee the same year.

Siradeghyan was appointed the Minister of Interior Affairs in 1992 by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, a post he held until 1996. According to journalist David Petrosyan, Siradeghyan «controlled part of the local market in oil products, part of the incomes generated from transport junctions, the greater part of the food market, the smaller part of bread production, and the woodwork and timber industry.»

Siradeghyan was criticized for his harshness against political opposition. In 1994, Ashot Manucharyan, Siradeghyan’s former colleague from the Karabakh Committee, accused him of «subverting democracy and fueling corruption», while another former Karabakh Committee member, Hambartsum Galstyan, claimed Siradeghyan was responsible for 30 politically motivated murders (Galstyan was killed by unknown assailants in December 1994, which was followed by speculation that Siradeghyan had ordered the killing). He also played a key role in the forcible crackdown against Vazgen Manukyan’s supporters’ protests after the controversial 1996 presidential election.In an interview in January 1999, Siradeghyan admitted that the government had resorted to vote-rigging to secure Ter-Petrosyan’s victory without a runoff election and stated that after the crackdown, President Ter-Petrosyan fell into a three-month depression and wanted Siradeghyan and Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsyan to resign.According to Siradeghyan, «the whole state apparatus was demoralized, paralyzed and no government was formed during [the ensuing] three months.