Yerkrapah Volunteer Union ( hy, «Երկրապահ» կամավորական միություն, ԵԿՄ ''«Yerkrapah» kamavorakan miut'yun, YeKM'') or Yerkrapah Union of Veterans, meaning ''Defenders of the Land'', is an Armenian non-governmental group that consisted of 6,000 veterans of the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

, formed by

Vazgen Sargsyan Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan ( hy, Վազգեն Զավենի Սարգսյան, ; 5 March 1959 – 27 October 1999) was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1 ...

. The Yerkrapah is a large and influential veteran group. The Yerkrapah Union was actively involved in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, although after the death of Sargsyan, Yerkrapah's influence in Armenian politics began to decline. Yerkrapah had incorporated between 5,000 and 30,000 veterans. According to

Thomas de Waal Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal (born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on the Caucasus. He is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. He is best known for his 2003 book '' Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. Lif ...

, after 1994 "the veterans' group Yerkrapah became the most powerful organization in the country."

Military operations

Yerkrapah serves as part the reserve of the army. It sent thousands of armed volunteers fight during the

April War The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...

of 2016, as well as the

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbai ...

of 2020.

Political involvement

By 1998, the Yerkrapah parliamentary faction, led by Vazgen Sargsyan as "the

power behind the throne The phrase "power behind the throne" refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of a high-ranking office, such as a head of state. In politics, it most commonly refers to a relative, aide, or nominal subordinate of a poli ...

", was the largest faction in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

(it had 69 members). The faction was made up of members of the union. That summer, merged with the

Republican Party of Armenia The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA, hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն, ՀՀԿ; ''Hayastani Hanrapetakan Kusaktsutyun'', ''HHK'') is a national-conservative political party in Armenia led by the thir ...

, absorbing the much smaller party in name and legal status. Yerkrapah as a political movement lost their nominal political influence by 2001. On 25 February 2008, a cohort of top army leaders led by the then-Chief of the General Staff

Seyran Ohanyan Seyran Musheghi Ohanyan ( hy, Սեյրան Մուշեղի Օհանյան; born 1 July 1962) is an Armenian general and politician currently serving as a deputy in the National Assembly of Armenia. He served as Defence Minister of Armenia from 14 ...

left the Yerkrapah Union, protesting against its involvement in politics. The move came after the deputy chairman Myasnik Malkhasyan and some other members gave their backing to ex-president

Levon Ter-Petrosyan Levon Hakobi Ter-Petrosyan ( hy, Լևոն Հակոբի Տեր-Պետրոսյան; born 9 January 1945), also known by his initials LTP, is an Armenian politician who served as the first president of Armenia from 1991 until his resignation in 1998 ...

in the protests following the disputed 2008 Armenian presidential election. Then-Yerkrapah chairman and deputy defense minister

Manvel Grigoryan Lieutenant General Manvel Sektori Grigoryan (Armenian: Մանվել Սեկտորի Գրիգորյան; 14 July 1956 – 19 November 2020) was an Armenian military leader and a member of the National Assembly of Armenia. At one point he was one of ...

also supposedly met with Ter-Petrosyan, who claimed that he had Grigoryan's support. In 2019, Chairman Sasun Mikayelyan insisted that the organization shall not serve as an 'appendage" of the ruling party, warning of consequences of what happened when the previous governments "tried to make Yerkrapah serve the authorities".

Youth wing

On 9 September 2014, the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, the Ministry of Education and Science, and Yerkrapah signed a memorandum to implement "Patani Yerkrapah" (Youth Protectors of the Land) patriotic clubs in Armenian educational institutions. Minister of Defense

, stressed the importance of the clubs in contributing to youths' knowledge of Armenian history.

Yerkrapah Day

Yerkrapah Day (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: Երկրապահի օր) is a professional holiday for all members of Yerkrapah, celebrated annually in Armenia on 8 May. The official status of Yerkrapah Day holiday was conceived after the entry of a law which President

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from ...

signed on 6 January 2001 and which the Parliament of Armenia approved on 24 July that year. It is associated with

Shushi Liberation Day Shushi Liberation Day () is a national holiday celebrated in Armenia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. It is commemorated on both 8 and 9 May as a way to celebrate the anniversary of the Capture of Shusha and the Siege of Stepanakert (re ...

. Yerkrapah Day is not a non-working day if, depending on the year, it does not fall on a weekend.

Chairmen

(1994-1999) *

(1999-2019) * Sasun Mikayelyan (2019-present)

References

External links

Official Site of Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Armenian militant groups First Nagorno-Karabakh War Paramilitary organizations based in Armenia