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On February 27, the US deputy foreign minister, Strobe Talbot, flew to Yerevan for a long meeting with Sarkisian and Kocharian. The content of that meeting has not been made public and the meeting per se has led to many speculations. Barely an hour after the departure of Talbot's plane towards Moscow, however, five armed men stormed the Armenian parliament building and brutally murdered Vazgen Sarkisian, Karen Demirchian and six other MPs, among them a minister.



The tragic event paralysed Armenia and created a power vacuum as the two most powerful political personalities in Armenia had been murdered. The perpetrators surrendered after a couple hours of negotiation and were imprisoned until trial. They claimed that they had perpetrated the killings in order to liberate Armenia from corruption, but other motives were suspected. Some speculated that the USA had a hand in the affair, as the Sarkisian-Demirchian duo were pro-Russia; although conversely, the USA had everything to gain from a swift agreement on the Karabakh issue and appeared optimistic about progress. Alternatively, Russia may have been involved as they disliked Armenia's approach to the USA, and were wary of an agreement on the Karabakh issue which would result in Caspian oil being channelled to the West outside of Russian control. 20

The parliamentary bloodbath had important consequences: in place of the Sarkisian-Demirchian coalition, which had been an effective balance of power, it left Kocharian as the undisputed leader and the most powerful person in Armenia. It made agreement impossible at the imminent OSCE summit, held on November 18-19, 1999. Arguably most importantly of all, it brought to an end the recently started battle on corruption and the rebuilding of the country pioneered by Sarkisian's government.

In an attempt to create stability in the country, Kocharian appointed Sarkisian's brother, Aram Sarkisian, as the new prime minister. Kocharian was unable to resist the pressure levied by the Demirchian-Sarkisian "Union Alliance" for this appointment. Aram Sarkisian, the manager of a cement factory in the outskirts of Yerevan, was, unlike his brother, an inexperienced politician. Most saw the solution as a "transient government" which would serve only until public uneasiness had been appeased.

However, when it came down to it, Aram Sarkisian was unwilling to give up office, and was fired by Kocharian on May, 2, 2000. The President appointed Andranik Markarian as prime minister, who proved able to lead a more stable administration.

2001 was a significant year for Armenia. The country celebrated the 1700 jubilee of Christianity as a state religion, the first Christian state in the world. Moreover, on January 25, Armenia (together with Azerbaijan) was declared a full member of the European Council.

Since 1994, there had been plans for oil pipes which would channel the Caspian oil to the Mediterranean Sea. Azerbaijan had refused to approve the shortest possible route, which would have passed through Armenia. The Azerbaijani administration preferred a more expensive solution to allowing Armenia a share of the cake. Despite concerns whether the suggested solution would be profitable, the involved parties, on August 1, 2002, finally agreed on the pipeline route Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, circumventing Armenia (at a longer distance of 210 km and an added cost of half a billion dollars). 21