On September 21, as reported by A1Plus information agency, the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrossian, appeared at a reception event organized by the Armenian National Movement political party in celebration of the 16-th anniversary of the country’s independence, breaking his decade-long silence in the political arena. Hundreds of people gathered at the entrance of the Marriott-Armenia Hotel where the reception was to be held and greeted Ter-Petrossian with exclamations “Levon-President!” and with “thunderous applause,” reported the news source.

At the event, Ter-Petrossian was expected to announce whether or not he will be running in the 2008 presidential elections. Instead, the first president severely criticized the current authorities and urged the opposition parties to unite around a joint presidential candidate. Ter-Petrossian told the public that even though he had not yet made up his mind about running for president, whatever his decision, he would support the united opposition candidate with all his means, informed A1Plus.

President Ter-Petrossian resigned in 1998 after a disagreement over the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict drew a wedge between him and his power-ministers, who then staged a quiet coup-d’etat. Ter-Petrossian’s speech that he gave prior to his resignation was first published in English in the WSI Caucasus Context journal in 2007 and can be accessed here.
This information was originally published September 21, 2007 (www.a1plus.net)