Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has dismissed three senior members of his staff, including the mother of the influential head of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS).
The woman, Margarit Azarian, has managed the human resources department in the prime minister’s office. She is a veteran civil servant who also worked in the administrations of the country’s former presidents.
The two other fired officials are Artur Sargsian, the first deputy chief of Pashinian’s staff, and Aleksandr Mkhitarian, the chief of protocol in the prime minister’s office.
Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Wednesday that the three officials were fired because of their “inadequate execution of the prime minister’s orders.” He did not elaborate.
Azarian told Hraparak.am, however, that she herself decided to resign. She denied having any conflicts with Pashinian or other senior government officials.
Azarian’s 38-year-old son, NSS Director Artur Vanetsian, is widely regarded as an influential member of Pashinian’s entourage. The latter appointed Vanetsian as NSS director the day after being elected prime minister in May last year. The powerful security service has since launched high-profile corruption investigations into some former senior government officials as well as their relatives and cronies.
Later in 2018 Vanetsian also became the chairman of the Football Federation of Armenia.
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