Serzh Sarkisian was sworn in as Armenia's new president on Wednesday as several hundred opponents gathered to lay flowers in memory of protesters killed contesting his election win. Sarkisian immediately appointed to replace him as prime minister Tigran Sarkisian, who moves from being head of the central bank and is not related to the president.
Analysts predicted Sarkisian would follow the hawkish stance of his predecessor Robert Kocharian towards neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey, with which Armenia is at loggerheads. In the ceremony in Yerevan's opera house, Sarkisian took the oath of office before a seventh-century copy of the New Testament and a copy of the country's post-Soviet constitution.
He was then blessed by the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II. "This is an oath to a better future for our country, to development, to democracy and to the rule of law," Sarkisian, 53, said during the televised ceremony after his swearing-in.
He promised a "fair and peaceful resolution for all Armenians" of the country's conflict with Azerbaijan over the Armenian-controlled separatist region of Nagorny Karabakh. But supporters of opposition candidate and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian held a memorial ceremony outside the Yerevan mayor's office, where post-election clashes had left eight dead.
Watched over by dozens of police with riot shields and batons, about 1,000 opposition supporters gathered to lay flowers for those killed. "It is shameful for the inauguration to take place on such a day. Today is the 40th day since people died on March 1," said a 53-year-old woman among the crowd who would not give her name. The 40th day following a death is a special day of mourning for Armenian Christians.
"Instead of playing at being tsar, (Sarkisian) should have been together with us laying flowers in memory of these victims," she said. "He is not our president, Levon Ter-Petrosian is our president. We will not allow him to rest easy." Armenia-a mountainous country of about three million people wedged between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey-has seen repeated political violence and post-election protests since gaining independence with the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
It has fraught relations with both Azerbaijan and Turkey, which have cut diplomatic ties and sealed their borders with Armenia over its support for the Karabakh separatists. Turkey has also been deeply angered by Yerevan's efforts to have World War I-era killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire internationally recognised as genocide.
Political analyst Hakob Avetikian said he expected Sarkisian to pursue an aggressive policy towards both countries. "Armenia's passivity in its external relations has upset a lot of people and he said today that the country should intensify its foreign policy, including when it comes to resolving the Karabakh conflict," Avetikian said.
As for the recent unrest here, seven civilians and one security officer were killed after riot police moved to disperse thousands of protesters who had rallied for 11 days to contest the vote result. Dozens more people were injured, many from gunshot wounds. A 20-day state of emergency was lifted on March 20, but tough restrictions on public demonstrations remain.