Yerkrapah

Yerkrapah

Yerkrapah logo
Active July 1993[1]—present
Country  Armenia
Role Paramilitary
Size 5,000-30,000[2]
Motto(s) Defenders of the Land
Engagements Nagorno-Karabakh War
Commanders
Current
commander		 Manvel Grigoryan[3]
Notable
commanders		 Vazgen Sargsyan

Yerkrapah Volunteer Union (Armenian: «Երկրապահ» կամավորական միություն, ԵԿՄ «Yerkrapah» kamavorakan miut'yun, YeKM) or Yerkrapah Union of Veterans, meaning Defenders of the Land, is a non-governmental group that consisted of 6,000 Nagorno-Karabakh War veterans, formed by Vazgen Sargsyan.[4] The Yerkrapah is a large and influential veteran group.[5] The Yerkrapah Union was actively involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh War although after the death of Sargsyan, Yerkrapah began to decline in support in politics.[6] Yerkrapah had incorporated between 5,000 and 30,000 veterans.[2] According to Thomas de Waal, after 1994 "the veterans' group Yerkrapah became the most powerful organization in the country."[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Համառոտ բնութագիր (Brief description)" (in Armenian). Official site of Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  2. 1 2 Levitsky, Steven. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. p. 209.
  3. ↑ ""Freedom Fighters" face fight for their own freedom: NKR war veterans among "political prisoners"". ArmeniaNow. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  4. ↑ P. Croissant, Michael. The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: causes and implications. p. 123.
  5. ↑ "Armenian War Veterans Divided Over 2008 Election". Armtown. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Lowell, Barrington (2006). After Independence: Making and Protecting the Nation in Postcolonial & Postcommunist States. University of Michigan Press. p. 241.
  7. ↑ De Waal, Thomas. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. p. 244.
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