What Is Known about New Minister of Defense of Armenia

Baku /26.11.20 / Turan: Against the backdrop of numerous resignations in the Armenian government, the resignation of Defense Minister David Tonoyan and the appointment of Vagharshak Harutyunyan to this post remained unnoticed.

Vagharshak Harutyunyan born in 1956 graduated from the Higher Naval School named after S. Kirov in Baku in 1978. He graduated from the Naval Academy (1991) and the Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (1998).

In 1999-2000 he was already the Minister of Defense of Armenia, but was dismissed after the terrorist attack in parliament on October 27, 1999. According to some reports, he lost the confidence of then President Robert Kocharian.

The political elite of Armenia then, and even now, believe that the terrorist attack in parliament, as a result of which 8 deputies, as well as the Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament, were killed, was the work of the GRU - the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff.

The behavior of Harutyunyan during the days of the terrorist attack was regarded by many as the readiness of the military to take power and remove Kocharyan in order to disrupt the signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan on Karabakh.

The Armenian leadership regarded the actions of the Minister of Defense as the executor of Moscow's will.

After his dismissal, Harutyunyan went into politics and began to criticize Kocharian's government. In 2002, the conflict reached its climax, and Harutyunyan was stripped of the military rank of Lieutenant General.

In subsequent years, he was actually retired, but unexpectedly for many in 2019 Nikol Pashinyan appointed him as his chief adviser and reinstated him in rank.

After the defeat of Armenia in the Second Karabakh War and the resignation of Tonoyan, Harutyunyan again took up the post of Defense Minister.

According to Azerbaijani military experts, Harutyunyan's level as an officer is below average and he is weaker than Tonoyan. At the same time, Harutyunyan should be considered 100% a man of Russia. This is due not only to the fact that he served in Russia all the time, but also to his political orientation in general. -02B-