1991 Armenian independence referendum

21 September 1991
Do you agree that the Republic of Armenia should be an independent democratic state outside of the USSR?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 2,042,627 99.51% No 10,002 0.49% Valid votes 2,052,629 99.80% Invalid or blank votes 4,129 0.20% Total votes 2,056,758 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,163,967 95.05%

Politics of Armenia
CIS Member State CoE Member State
Constitution Constitutional court President: Hrayr Tovmasyan Human rights
Head of state President Vahagn Khachaturyan
Executive Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan Mher Grigoryan Current government
Legislature National Assembly President: Alen Simonyan Members
Judiciary Law
Administrative divisions Provinces (marz) Municipalities (hamaynk)
Elections Political parties Civil Contract Armenia Alliance I Have Honor Alliance Central Electoral Commission Recent parliamentary elections: 2018 2021 Next
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Ararat Mirzoyan Diplomatic missions of / in Armenia Nationality law Passport Diaspora Visa requirements Visa policy Armenia–BSEC relations Armenia–Council of Europe relations Armenia–CSTO relations Armenia–European Union relations Armenia–NATO relations Armenia–OSCE relations Armenia–United Nations relations Armenia–Artsakh relations Armenia–Azerbaijan relations Armenia–Georgia relations Armenia–Iran relations Armenia–Russia relations Armenia–Turkey relations Armenia–United States relations
Related topics Armenian genocide recognition History OSCE Minsk Group Politics of Artsakh
Other countries

An independence referendum was held in the Armenia SSR on 21 September 1991 to determine whether to secede from the Soviet Union.^[1] It followed a declaration of independence on 23 August 1990.^[2] 99.5% of voters voted in favour, with a turnout of 95%.^[3] The country officially became an independent state on 23 September 1991.^[4]

The May 1990 Armenian Supreme Soviet election resulted in the formation of a non-Communist government led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, chairman of the Pan-Armenian National Movement.^[5]

On 23 August 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Armenia, which marked the beginning of the process of establishing independent statehood. It was declared that the Republic of Armenia was a sovereign state endowed with independence. The Constitution of the USSR and the laws of the USSR ceased to apply in the territory of the Republic. In order to ensure its security and inviolability of its borders, the Republic of Armenia established its own Armed Forces, internal troops, state and public security bodies subordinate to the Supreme Soviet.^[2]

In December 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev proposed a referendum on the continuation of the Soviet Union, as a federative state. The Ter-Petrosyan government rejected the proposal on 1 March 1991 and decided instead to hold a referendum on independence.^[5]

The referendum was scheduled for 21 September 1991. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic was given the right "in case of a sharp change in the situation to decide on an early referendum".^[6]

On 21 September 1991, the referendum was held. The majority of citizens with the right to vote answered this question in the affirmative.

On 23 September 1991, the Supreme Council of Armenia confirmed the republic's secession from the USSR based on the results of the referendum.^[4]

Following the referendum, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Armenia to join the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. However, the Armenian government signed an economic treaty with Russia that created a free-trade zone.^[7]

Levon Ter-Petrosyan was elected the first president of Armenia in November 1991 and Armenia formally gained independence on 26 December 1991.

In a separate referendum, around 99% of ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region voted for independence from Azerbaijan. Artur Mkrtchyan was chosen as president of the region following the 28 December 1991 parliamentary elections. On 2 January 1992 President Mutalibov of Azerbaijan placed the region under direct presidential rule, and the region formally declared its independence from the nation four days later on 6 January.^[8]

Prior to the 1991 referendum, conflict had started in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 1988, with the referendum soon causing an escalation into a long phase of war within the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

• Independence Day (Armenia)

• Nohlen, Dieter; Hartmann, Christof; Grotz, Florian (2001). "Armenia". Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume I: Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/019924958X.003.0016. ISBN 978-0-19-924958-9.
• Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1991). Report on the Armenian Referendum on Independence (PDF).