a long line of priests living near Musa Dagh in the region of Hatay (now located in the south of Turkey). His family took part in the armed resistance at Musa Dagh during the Armenian genocide before fleeing to Syria. His father, Hakob Ter-Petrosyan, was first a member of the Hunchakian Party and later a founding member of the Syrian Communist Party. He had three brothers, Telman (1936–1997), Petros (1938–2013), and Kamo (born 1948), as well as a younger sister, Iskuhi (1953–2015). His family emigrated to Soviet Armenia in 1947, when he was still an infant, just before the birth of his only living younger brother, Kamo. In 1969, he graduated from the Oriental Studies Department of Yerevan State University. In 1972, he completed his postgraduate studies at Leningrad State University. In 1987, he received his doctoral degree from the same university. From 1972 to 1979, Ter-Petrosyan worked as junior researcher at the Manuk Abeghian Literature Institute of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. From 1979 to 1984, he held the post of science secretary at Matenadaran named after Saint Mesrob Mashdots. Since 1984, he has worked at Matenadaran as a senior researcher. Academic career Ter-Petrosyan wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Assyrian language and its ties to Armenian. In addition, he is the author of more than 30 books, about 80 scientific articles in Armenian, French and Russian, as well as thousands of political publications in the multilingual press (speeches, articles, interviews, press conferences, etc.). He is a member of the Writers Union of Armenia, the French Asian Society, the Mekhitarist Academy in Venice and a recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of La Verne, University of Sofia, Paris-Sorbonne University and University of Strasbourg. Karabakh movement and independence of Armenia In late 1987 and early 1988, the Karabakh movement emerged in Soviet Armenia and the Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with the goal of transferring the autonomous region from Azerbaijan to Armenia. On 19 May 1988, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Vazgen Manukyan and 9 others founded a new Karabakh Committee, which soon took leadership of the Karabakh movement from the older committee led by Zori Balayan and Igor Muradyan. Levon Ter-Petrosyan was the de facto leader of the committee. Under the leadership of Ter-Petrosyan and Manukyan, the Karabakh movement transformed from being purely concerned with the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia into a broader movement for democratization. From 10 December 1988 to