1999 Armenian parliament shooting

Armenian parliament shooting
A 2000 postal card depicting the eight victims of the shooting
Location	National Assembly building, Yerevan, Armenia
Date	October 27, 1999 (1999-10-27) 5:15 pm (UTC+4)
Target	Vazgen Sargsyan
Weapons	AK-47
Deaths	8
Non-fatal injuries	30+
Perpetrators	Nairi Hunanyan, Karen Hunanyan, Vram Galstyan, Derenik Ejanyan, Eduard Grigoryan
Defenders	After the occupation of the building: Minister of Interior (Police) Defense Ministry (Armed Forces) Russian anti-terrorist squad
Motive	Coup d'état (according to perpetrators)

The Armenian parliament shooting, commonly known in Armenia as October 27 (Հոկտեմբերի 27, Hoktemberi k’sanyot’), was a terrorist  attack on the Armenian National Assembly in the capital Yerevan on October 27, 1999, by a group of five armed men led by Nairi Hunanyan that, among others, killed the two de facto decision-makers in the country's political leadership—Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and Parliament Speaker Karen Demirchyan. Their reform-minded coalition had won a majority in the parliamentary election held in May of that year and had practically sidelined President Robert Kocharyan from the political scene.

The shooting led to significant changes in the country's political landscape. It remains a subject of numerous conspiracy theories, mostly involving President Kocharyan, whose tenure thereafter was frequently criticized as authoritarian. Sargsyan and Demirchyan were posthumously honored with National Hero of Armenia titles.

On 27 October 1999, at around 5:15 p.m., five men led by journalist and former ARF member Nairi Hunanyan, armed with Kalashnikov rifles hidden under long coats, broke into the National Assembly building on Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan, while the government was holding a question-and-answer session. They shot dead eight people:

The gunmen injured at least 30 people in the parliament.

Hunanyan was accompanied by his brother Karen, uncle Vram, and two others. The group claimed they were carrying out a coup d'état. They described their act as "patriotic" and "needed for the nation to regain its senses." They said they wanted to "punish the authorities for what they do to the nation" and described the government as profiteers "drinking the blood of the people." They claimed Armenia was in a "catastrophic situation" and that "corrupt officials" were not doing anything to provide the way out. Vazgen Sargsyan was the main target of the group and the other deaths were said to be unintended. According to reporters who witnessed the shooting, the men went up to Sargsyan and said, "Enough of drinking our blood," to which Sargsyan calmly responded, "Everything is being done for you and the future of your children." Vazgen Sargsyan was hit several times. Hunanyan claimed that the eight deaths and dozens of injuries in the attack were all "innocent victims" except for the case of Sargsyan, who he said had "failed the nation". Anna Israelyan, an eyewitness journalist, stated that "the first shots were fired directly at Vazgen Sargsyan at a distance of one to two meters" and, in her words, "it was impossible that he would have survived." Gagik Saratikyan, a cameraman, was the first person from outside to be allowed to go into the building while the men were in control of it. Saratikyan recorded the dead bodies of Vazgen Sargsyan and Karen Demirchyan. Sargsyan's body was taken out of the parliament building on the evening of October 27.