 Armenia - national flag
The history of the Armenian tricolor dates back to 1885, but then with partly
different colors. The flag in its current form was first hoisted in 1918 with
the creation of the Transcaucasia and was officially reintroduced in 1990. The
colors are said to go back to ancient flags and banners. Red symbolizes the
blood that Armenians have shed especially in the struggles against the Turks,
blue the country's unchanged character, and orange stands for courage, expressed
through the work of the people.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Armenia look like? Follow this link, then you will see
the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Armenia - history
In Armenia's legendary material, the nation's prehistory is linked to the
biblical genealogical registers and to great powers such as
Assyria. Archaeologically, the possible connection to the Clockwork Kingdom and
its high-ranking material culture is of particular interest. Inscriptions and
names give clues to Armenian presence north and west of Lake Van in present-day
Eastern Turkey in the 8th century BC.
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AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world,
such as ARM which represents the official name of Armenia.
The actual source basis for Armenia's historical existence, however, we only
get with the Persian king Darius ' mention of his victory over the Armenians
(approximately 520 BC), with depictions of Herodotus and in later Armenian historians'
flashbacks.
- Songaah:
See song and lyrics about Armenia
The first individual to emerge clearly on the historical scene between Rome
and the Parthian Empire is King Tigranes the Great (95-c. 55 BC). He represents
an early - since often repeated - attempt to assemble probably originally small,
independent principalities.
Armenia became early Christian (see Armenian Church), and with the creation
of its own alphabet in beg. of 400-t. began an extensive literary and cultural
activity rooted in Christianity and in a common Indo-European language. Armenia
distinguished itself politically and culturally, first between the Roman Empire
and the Persian Empire, then between Byzantium and the Baghdad Caliphate (Anı),
but was often dependent on the strength and political stance of the great
powers.
The boundaries were very shifting, and also the inner unity was of
fluctuating solidity; often one or more Persian-influenced princely families
faced more western (especially Byzantine) oriented princely houses, and strong
Persian and from approximately 700 Arab cultural impulses prevailed; thus Roman law
was never introduced in the Caucasus. Towards the end. of 1000-t. became the old
Armenia with centers in Anı and present-day Yerevan ran over the end of the
first "Turkish wave", the Seljuks. Many emigrated south, and in Cilicia a new
"Little Armenia" emerged, which existed until 1375.
This empire was an important ally of Western European crusaders, and many
ties were attached to Western (Roman/Frankish) culture, politics, and
theology. At the same time, a special inner life unfolded with the production of
richly illuminated manuscripts, with the construction of churches, monasteries
and fortresses, as well as with literary activity in poetry, theology and
history.
From approximately 1400 the Armenians had to submit to the Ottoman Empire, often
as a respected middle class with craft and trade functions. In Istanbul and
Jerusalem, Armenian patriarchates were established, which were mainly
administrative links between the Armenian people and the supreme Islamic
authority.
At times, frictions arose between different population groups in the Ottoman
Empire, but only with the decadence of the Istanbul Sultanate in the late
1800's. the Armenians became a particularly threatened minority. Serious
massacres took place in the 1870's and 1890's.
The Armenians had hopes for the Young Turkish movement - towards a recognized
Armenian existence within a new Turkish empire - but already around 1900 and
definitely during World War I, the Young Turkish government resumed an
ethnocentric policy, which led to major massacres in 1915, which by Armenian was
designated as genocide, since probably at least 3/4 of
the Armenian population in the then Turkey were killed or displaced. The policy
of the following years continued the purge.
The solution of the Armenian question in the peace negotiations after the
World War, where the US President Wilson proposed a Greater Armenia from
Transcaucasia to Cilicia, led after a brief intermezzo (1918-20) with a small
independent Armenia with Yerevan as the capital of a Soviet republic that was
somewhat smaller in scope. The population here consisted partly of descendants
of the ancient Armenian population with roots dating back to antiquity and the
Middle Ages, and partly of refugees from Turkey.
At the same time, the number of Armenians abroad grew rapidly. The presence
of Armenians in many Middle Eastern centers dates back to the Middle Ages, but
the number of Armenians here and in Western Europe, Latin America and not least
in North America increased especially after the massacres of the 1870's, 1890's,
1910's and 1920's. Soviet Armenia reached a relatively high scientific, technical
and industrial level with chemical and electronic industry, but with
environmental problems as a result, eg with the lowering
of Sevansøen's mirror. The dissolution of the Soviet Union took place at the
same time as Armenia's conflict with Azerbaijan over
the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.with Armenian-Christian population and status of
autonomous region, but enclosed by Islamic Azerbaijan. The conflict showed
Armenia's immense communication vulnerability, with all traffic from the
north passing through either Azerbaijan or Georgia.
A new constitution was introduced in 1995 following a referendum. It gives
wide powers to the presidency both in terms of appointing government and senior
officials in the province. Levon Ter-Petrosyanwas re-elected president in
1996. Following his accession, he and his successive governments continued to
reject the incorporation of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave into Armenia. Armenia
also did not recognize the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. During
the escalation of hostilities in 1992-94, Armenia actually contributed to the
detachment of the enclave from Azerbaijan with both political and military
assistance. However, this was not enough for Armenia's extremist nationalists,
and on the back of economic ruin and accusations of corruption and abuse of
power, Ter-Petrosyan had to resign in 1998. In an extraordinary presidential
election, Nagorno-Karabakh's former president Robert Kotjarjan was elected
instead.. However, the change of president did not succeed in increasing the
political stability of the state. Thus, in 1999, gunmen stormed parliament,
killing six of its members, including the prime minister.
The opposition, however, could not rally around a common leader, and in March
2003, Kotjarjan was re-elected president for another five years. Both the
presidential and parliamentary elections in May 2003, which were won by the
president's support party, were heavily criticized for irregularities by the
opposition and international observers. In 2004, the opposition held several
demonstrations against the president. Following a recommendation from the
Council of Europe, it was decided in a referendum in 2005 to amend the
Constitution in order to bring it into line with European standards for, for
example, human rights and democracy. This significantly limited the power of the
president. In the parliamentary elections in May 2007, incumbent Prime
Minister Serzj Sarkisjansparty, the Republican Party of Armenia, a third of the
votes and formed government together with the party Prosperous
Armenia. International observers said the election largely lived up to
international standards, while the opposition spoke of widespread electoral
fraud. In the February 2008 presidential election, Serzh Sarkisjan won with
52.8% of the vote over Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who had made a political comeback
and received 21.5% of the vote. OSCEexpressed moderate satisfaction with the
election, but Ter-Petrosjan protested against the election result, which in his
opinion was falsified. He staged large-scale protest rallies in Yerevan and was
placed under house arrest when authorities on 1/3 cleared Yerevan's central
square of protesters and incumbent President Robert Kotjarjan imposed a 20-day
state of emergency. On that occasion, 10 people died, and approximately 250 were
injured. In June, August and September 2008, Ter-Petrosyan again led mass
demonstrations demanding the re-election of both president and parliament. Since
his accession, Serzh Sarkisjan has primarily taken measures to combat the
widespread corruption among officials. Due to the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia has a strained relationship with Azerbaijan, and the
Armenians' desire to have the 1915 massacres recognized as genocide strains
relations with Turkey. Both neighbors maintain an effective economic blockade of
Armenia. In 2008, however, there was a remarkable thawing of relations between
Armenia and Turkey. Diplomats from the two countries held confidential talks on
an approximation, and the preliminary highlight was the Turkish president's
unofficial visit to Yerevan in September 2008 in connection with the first ever
international football match between Turkey and Armenia. The country's
landlord's connections with the outside world take place through Georgia and
Iran, with which it has good relations. Russia is Armenia's most important
strategic partner in the region, and the two countries have reached an agreement
on the stationing of Russian troops in Armenia. Thanks to the Armenian diaspora,
Armenia has close ties with the United States, and the country wants closer
cooperation with NATO, but not membership. In 2004, Armenia became part of the
European Neighborhood Policy.
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