On August 23, 1990, the newly elected parliament of Armenia issued the declaration of sovereignty (renaming the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Republic of Armenia). In a referendum on September 21, 1991, 99.3% of the electorate voted in favor of Armenia’s exit from the USSR, two days later the parliament proclaimed independence; nevertheless, Armenia became one of the most active members of the CIS. The Armenian Pan-National Movement, formed in 1989, then rose to become the most influential party. L. Ter-Petrosyan left the presidential election on October 16, 1991emerged as the winner (confirmed in office by new elections in September 1996). In terms of foreign policy, Armenia concluded a friendship and cooperation agreement with Russia in January 1993 and a base agreement in March 1995 (permission to station Russian troops on the border with Turkey). In September 1999, Armenia signed a friendship treaty with Kazakhstan (including the establishment of a commission for economic cooperation). On July 1, 1999, the partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU came into force. The relationship with Turkey turned out to be problematic, especially in view of the Turkish demands on Armenia,
After the HHD was banned and several opposition parties were excluded from the parliamentary elections in July 1995, these were won by the »Republic« party alliance, an amalgamation of the Armenian Pannational Movement led by Ter-Petrosyan with other parties.
In February 1998 Ter-Petrosyan resigned as president; he had drawn growing domestic political criticism because of his attitude towards Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which had recently been more willing to compromise. The presidential elections in March 1998 were won by Karabakh Armenian Prime Minister R. Kocharyan , who had been Prime Minister since 1997in the second ballot with 59.5% of the votes (took office as President on April 9, 1998). The internal situation of Armenia remained due to the economic disaster (economic blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey due to the Karabakh conflict, lack of raw materials, delaying urgent reforms, weakness in the separation of powers or dependence of the judiciary on the executive, widespread nepotism, the ability to buy office and corruption in the face of impoverishment of broad sections of the population) several terrorist attacks on representatives of the state (especially 1999) tense; According to 800zipcodes, the country also suffered from the emigration of many Armenians (at least 800,000 since the early 1990s, mainly for economic reasons). Armenia continued to rely on financial support from Armenians abroad. On 22/23
From the parliamentary elections of May 1999, the party alliance »Unity« (alliance between the Republican and People’s Party) emerged as the strongest political force; the Armenian Pan-National Movement was only able to win one of the 131 seats. The office of prime minister took over in June 1999 the previous defense minister Wasgen Sargsjan (* 1959, † 1999) , who together with seven other politicians (including the parliamentary speaker Karen Demirschjan [* 1932, † 1999]) in a bloody attack on the parliament in Yerevan died on October 27, 1999; In early November 1999, a brother of the murdered Prime Minister, businessman Aram Sargsjan (* 1961) , President Kocharyan, became head of government but after a domestic political crisis he was dismissed from office in May 2000 and replaced by Andranik Markarjan (Republican Party).
On January 25, 2001, Armenia was admitted to the Council of Europe together with Azerbaijan. In connection with the presidential elections of February / March 2003, there were mass protests and opposition members were arrested. In the runoff elections on March 5, 2003, which were criticized by OSCE election observers because of numerous irregularities, President Kocharyan secured himself another term of office with 67.5% of the votes. The parliamentary elections on May 25, 2003 (again objected to by the OSCE and challenged by the opposition) were won by the ruling Republican Party. This led to protests by the opposition in 2004 (also under the impression of the “rose revolution” in neighboring Georgia) with the aim of overthrowing the president. A massive police operation in April 2004 against demonstrators in front of the presidential palace thwarted the campaign early on. The government benefited from the disagreement of its opponents and the loyalty of the pro-president parties, the security apparatus and the administration. The “complementary foreign policy” towards the USA, the EU, Russia and Iran only slightly stabilized Armenia’s precarious situation in the region. After the referendum on November 27th In 2005, through a revision of the constitution in the direction of a semi-presidential orientation, the tense domestic political situation did not calm down. Relations with Russia were strained in 2006 by an increase in gas prices for Armenia. At least six Armenians were killed in xenophobic attacks in Russia. president Kocharyan stayed away from a CIS summit in July 2006 in Moscow.
After the death of Prime Minister Markaryan at the end of March 2007, the previous Prime Minister S. Sargsjan was appointed head of government on April 4, 2007. The Republican Party led by him emerged from the parliamentary elections on May 12, 2007 again as the strongest party; Together with the Blooming Armenia Party and the HHD, it formed a government coalition. None of the opposition parties previously represented in the National Assembly succeeded in overcoming the five percent threshold.
