Aghvan Arshaviri Vardanyan ( hy, Աղվան Արշավիրի Վարդանյան; born on October 7, 1958) is an Armenian politician, former member of the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also infor ...

, and former minister of labor and social affairs.

Biography

Vardanyan was born in 1958 in the village of Gemur in the

Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as Nakhichevan ASSR was an autonomous republic within the Azerbaijan SSR, itself a republic within the Soviet Union. It was formed on 16 March 1921 and became a part of the Azerb ...

of the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

. He studied at

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

from 1977 to 1982 in the Faculty of Philology. From 1982 to 1987, Vardanyan served as the executive secretary of the ''Yerevan University'' newspaper. For the next three years, Vardanyan worked for ''Aghbyur'' and ''Garoun'' magazines, and in 1987, became a member of the

Writers Union of Armenia The Writers' Union of Armenia was founded in August 1934, simultaneously with the USSR Union of Writers and as a component part of the USSR Union. 1930s The Constituent Assembly was held during 1 August - 5 August, after which the Armenian delegat ...

. He joined

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

(ARF) party in 1990, and until 1993 served as secretary of the Writer's Union of Armenia. Between 1991 and 1993, Vardanyan served as the chief editor of the ARF newspaper ''

Yerkir ''Yerkir'' (, literally "Country") is the official newspaper of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). The first issue of ''Yerkir'' was published on August 27, 1991 in Yerevan. Since April 2002 it is also published in ...

'' and from 1993 to 1994 was an employee of the radio station ''Azatutyun'' (the Armenian service of

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

). From 1994 to 1996, Vardanyan worked for the ARF magazine ''

Droshak ''Droshak'' (''Troshag'', hy, Դրօշակ, "Flag") is the official organ of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) published in Tiflis (1890), Balkans (1890s), Geneva (1892-1914), Paris (1925-33), Beirut (1969-85), Athens (1986-96), Yerevan ...

'' in Athens and between 1996 and 1999 served as chief editor of the Media Center ''Yerevan''. In 1999, he was elected to the

and that same year became a member of ARF Bureau, the party's highest decision-making body. In 2001, Vardanyan was elected a member of ARF Supreme Body and led the ARF's parliamentary faction. Two years later he was again elected to parliament and was appointed minister of labor and social affairs. On May 1, 2018, the ARF Supreme Council of Armenia announced that it was calling for Vardanyan to resign from his parliamentary post. This came after he declined to vote with the ARF faction for the election of

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1 ...

as prime minister. On May 3, he resigned from his parliamentary post. On May 4, the ARF Supreme Council of Armenia announced of his dismissal from the ARF. Vardanyan is set to participate in the coming

2021 Armenian parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 20 June 2021. The elections had initially been scheduled for 9 December 2023, but were called earlier due to a political crisis following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and an alleged attempted ...

as a member of the

Armenia Alliance Armenia Alliance ( hy, Հայաստան դաշինք, Hayastan dashink’, HD) is an Armenian political alliance. It was founded in 2021 and is currently led by former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. History During the 2020–2021 Armenian ...

led by former president

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from ...

References

External links

Aghvan Vardanyan - Armenia AllianceAghvan Vardanyan's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vardanyan, Aghvan 1958 births Living people Government ministers of Armenia Yerevan State University alumni Labor and Social Affairs ministers of Armenia Armenian Revolutionary Federation politicians