| Military Administration of Armenia Հայաստանի ռազմական վարչություն (Armenian) Timeline: DifferentlyErmənistan Hərbi İdarəsi (Azerbaijani) სომხეთის სამხედრო ადმინისტრაცია (Georgian) اداره نظامی ارمنستان (Persian) | ||||
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 Military Administration of Armenia (green)
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| Capital (and largest city) | Yerevan | |||
| Official languages | Armenian • Azerbaijani • Georgian • Persian | |||
| Government | Military occupation | |||
| - | Governor | Ali Asadov | ||
| Establishment | ||||
| - | Surrender of Armenia | 23 August 2022 | ||
| - | Yerevan Uprising | 27 September 2022 | ||
| - | Coalition withdrawal from Armenia | 10 October 2022 | ||
| Area | ||||
| - | Total | 29,743 km2 11,484 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||
| - | Estimate | 2,956,900 | ||
The Military Administration of Armenia was the military administrative authority currently occupying Armenia since the surrender of the Armenian government in the 2022 Middle Eastern War. The administration was jointly operated by Azerbaijan, Georgia and West Persia, while Armenian politicians and soldiers were being arrested, placed into trial with plans for them to tried for war crimes.
History[]
Establishment[]
Prior to the entrance of Armenia into the Middle Eastern War, President Serzh Sargsyan had been suffering from low approval ratings and growing opposition to his government. Sargsyan, who had been President since 2007, oversaw Armenia through a period of democratic backsliding, increased corruption, and geopolitical alignment with Russia. After a failed revolution to bring back democratic accountability in 2018, Sargsyan had begun to consolidate more power around himself to prevent any other internal uprisings. In 2022, Sargsyan sought to win back the support of the people by leading Armenia to victory against their geopolitical rival, Azerbaijan.
On 1 August 2022, President Serzh Sargsyan ordered a military incursion into the Azeri-controlled Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Sargsyan, believing that Azerbaijan and West Persia would be too distracted in East Persia to intervene, would be proven wrong. After less than a month upon entering the war, Armenia would be surrounded and occupied by a joint Georgian-Azeri-West Persian coalition.
Yerevan Uprising[]
By September of 2022, administration troop presence in Armenia had been lowered significantly as troops were being moved to the main frontline against East Persia. Troop presence in Armenia had gone from 10,000 in August to 6,000 in September. During this time, Armenian resistance to the occupation had become more vocal. On September 26th, a large crowd gathered outside the Occupation Administrative Building (formerly Parliament) in Yerevan to demand an end to the occupation. After an exchange of fighting between the protestors and Azeri troops outside the building, the Azeri troops would open fire on Armenian protestors, killing 4 and wounding 14.
This would prompt the intensification of protests the following day. Over 200,000 people would take to the streets on Yerevan on the morning September 27th, quickly overwhelming Georgian-Azeri occupation forces in the city. Using makeshift weapons, the protestors would break into "Asadov Prison", a prison holding Armenian prisoners of war that was established during the occupation. Prison guards would be overwhelmed, and soldiers would be freed by the afternoon of September 27th. Among those freed was captured Colonel Onik Gasparyan who led Armenian forces before the occupation. Onik Gasparyan and freed members of the Armenian military leadership would resume a de facto role as leaders of the uprising.
After four days of brutal fighting in Yerevan, the Military Administration would be forced out of the city. Military Governor Ali Asadov narrowly avoided capture after being airlifted out of the city mere hours before the resistance would storm the Occupation Building. After days of anarchy in Yerevan, Onik Gasparyan would secure order in the city and proclaim himself President of Armenia on 2 October 2022. With Yerevan under the control of Gasparyan, the newly reestablished Armenian military would continue to route Administration forces out of Armenia. Georgia would be pressured into not re-occupy Armenia by threats from Russia, while West Persia would not send reinforcements in order to protect their front against East Persia. This left the conflict to be between Armenia and Azerbaijan, concentrated in eastern Armenia.
On 6 October 2022, the Armenians would receive a decisive victory against Azeri forces at the three-day Battle of Martuni, killing Military Governor Asadov in the process. The victory was largely attributed to Armenian civilian militias sabotaging Azeri supply lines and most of Azerbaijan's top military being on the front against East Persia. The victory would prompt outrage from Azerbaijan, with Azeri President Aliyev calling on West Persia to suspended ongoing negotiations with Armenia.
Negotiations with West Persia + End to Military Administration[]
Unlike the previous invasion and occupation of Armenia, there was more hesitation by West Persian leadership to send reinforcements to Armenia. Instead, West Persia's government would attempt negotiations with Armenia. These negotiations were supported by Georgia and the PANTO coalition but opposed by Azerbaijan. West Persian Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani would send delegates to meet with Armenian delegates in Sochi. After days of negotiations, an agreement would be reached on 10 October 2022. The agreement would see West Persia and PANTO recognize Gasparyan's government in exchange for Armenian entrance into the war on the side of the West Persian coalition. Gasparyan would accept these terms, and West Persia would strongarm Azerbaijan into reluctantly accepting these conditions as well. The remaining Azeri troops would withdraw from Armenia on 10 October 2022.
Gasparyan declared these negotiations to be an "absolute victory" for Armenia. In a speech on 11 October 2022, Gasparyan had lamented the previous Republican government and its failure to protect the Armenian people. In a shocking turn of events, Gasparyan would proclaim himself "King of Armenia" in order to "continue the preservation of the Armenian State and the Armenian people", thus formally marking the end of the old Armenian Republic which had been in a state of limbo since the military occupation. This definitively marked the end of the Military Administration government as PANTO and the West Persian coalition reluctantly recognized the new Kingdom.
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