Today marks the 27th anniversary of the tragedy that occurred in National Assembly (NA) of Armenia. On October 27, 1999, a group of armed criminals stormed the parliament during a regular NA session, during a question-and-answer session with the government, and shot and killed state officials.

The casualties of this attack were NA speaker Karen Demirchyan, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, NA deputy speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, as well as MPs Armenak Armenakyan, Henrik Abrahamyan, Mikael Kotanyan, and Minister of Operational Management Leonard Petrosyan.

Also, the terrorist group took 91 people hostage, mostly MPs. Reporters covering the session were also taken hostage, but they were later released by the terrorists. The injured MPs and government members were also released after some time.

Remaining hostages were released at dawn on October 28, after the terrorists laid down their weapons and surrendered.

The court issued a verdict in the case on December 2, 2003. It sentenced the seven terrorists who committed the crime, according to which six were sentenced to life imprisonment, and one to 14 years in prison.

On August 26, 2024, Ashot Knyazyan, 64, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for this crime, died in a Yerevan penitentiary. Of those sentenced to life imprisonment for this crime, brothers Nairi and Karen Hunanyan, as well as Derenik Bejanyan are still alive.

This criminal case was reopened after 2018, based on the petition of Anahit Bakhshyan, the widow of slain NA deputy speaker Yuri Bakhshyan.

To commemorate the victims, the sculpture "Biblical David" (1953) by Yervand Kochar was installed in the courtyard of the National Assembly in 2009.