Vagharshak Varnazi Harutiunyan ( hy, Վաղարշակ Վառնազի Հարությունյան; born 28 April 1956) is an Armenian military figure and politician currently serving as Armenia's ambassador to Russia. He previously served as the

Defence Minister of Armenia The Defence Minister of Armenia () is the head of the country's Ministry of Defence, who is charged with the political leadership of the Armed Forces of Armenia. The position was originally created in 1918 and was re-established in January 1992 f ...

from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2020 to 2021.

Early life

Harutiunyan was born in

Akhalkalaki Akhalkalaki ( ka, ახალქალაქი, tr; hy, Ախալքալաք / Նոր-Քաղաք, translit=Axalk’alak’ / Nor-K’aġak’) is a town in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Ak ...

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

(now

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

), a region with a large Armenian population.

Military career

Soviet Army and CIS service

He graduated from the

Caspian Higher Naval School The Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy () is an educational institution of the Azerbaijani Naval Forces. It is part of the education system of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. It was originally founded in 1939 In Soviet times, it was called the ...

in 1978. From 1978 to 1989, he fought in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

. Harutiunyan than graduated from the Grechko Naval Academy and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in 1991. He switched allegiance to

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

prior to the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. Harutiunyan was named Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Defence Committee of Armenia in 1991, in the middle of the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

. In 1992, he became the Deputy Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Armed Forces of the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

. Harutiunyan was chosen as the representative of the Armenian Armed Forces at the CIS in 1994.

First term as defence minister (1999–2000)

In 1999, Harutiunyan returned to Armenia to replace Vazgen Sargsyan as

on 11 June 1999 after Sargsyan was elected Prime Minister. Harutiunyan joined Sargsyan and Head of the Government Staff Shahen Karamanukyan in the meeting of the

(CIS) heads of government in

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

, Ukraine on 7 October 1999. In February 2000, he discussed a plan for cooperation between Armenia and Belarus with his Belarusian counterpart, Aleksandr Petrovich Chumakov during his visit to

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

to discuss Armenian use of Belarusian military plants for upgrading Armenian military equipment. He left the post of defence minister on 20 May 2000. On 22 July 2002, Harutiunyan was stripped of his military rank of lieutenant general by order of President of Armenia

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 ...

Career (2000-2020)

On 23 July 2002, Harutiunyan joined the opposition

Hanrapetutyun Party The Hanrapetutyun Party ( hy, Հանրապետություն կուսակցություն, lit=Republic Party) is a pro-European political party in Armenia. The party was founded by ex-members from the Republican Party of Armenia and members of ...

, led by

Aram Sargsyan Aram Zaveni Sargsyan ( hy, Արամ Զավենի Սարգսյան; 2 January 1961) is an Armenian political figure. He was Prime Minister of Armenia from 3 November 1999 to 2 May 2000. He is the younger brother of Vazgen Sargsyan. In 2001, he fou ...

, the brother of

Vazgen Sargsyan Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan ( hy, Վազգեն Զավենի Սարգսյան, ; 5 March 1959 – 27 October 1999) was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1 ...

. In 2005, together with Albert Bazeyan, he founded the National Revival Party. In 2007 the party ceased its activities and merged with the Ramkavar Azatakan Party, although Harutyunyan opposed this. In 2016, there were rumors about his possible appointment to the post of Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In 2019, his military rank of lieutenant general was restored. In August 2020, he was appointed Chief Military Advisor to the

Prime Minister of Armenia The prime minister of Armenia is the head of government and most senior minister within the Government of Armenia, Armenian government, and is required by the constitution to "determine the main directions of policy of the Government, manage the ...

Second term as defence minister (2020-2021)

Harutiunyan was appointed as defence minister by Prime Minister

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 ...

and President Armen Sarksyan on 20 November 2020, following the resignation of

David Tonoyan David Edgari Tonoyan ( Armenian:Դավիթ Էդգարի Տոնոյան; born 27 December 1967) is an Armenian political figure and former Defence Minister of Armenia, in office from 2018 to 2020. Biography Early life and career David Tonoya ...

. His appointment were among a number of changes in the

Second Pashinyan government The Second Pashinyan government was the executive branch of the government of Armenia from 14 January 2019 to 2 August 2021. Nikol Pashinyan was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia, Prime Minister by President of Armenia, President Armen Sarkissi ...

following the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement that ended the

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbai ...

. In his appointment ceremony, he thanked the Prime Minister for his confidence, stating he hopes his leadership will "preserve the positive we had in the Army" and "assess the objective and subjective reasons within a short period of time and submit a new package of reforms". The day after his appointment, he met with his Russian counterpart

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, ; tyv, Сергей Күжүгет оглу Шойгу, translit=Sergey Kyzhyget oglu Shoygu, . (russian: Сергей Кужугетович Шойгу; born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician who has served as ...

, where they discussed the Russian peacekeeping force in

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...

Awards

* Medal “For Services to the Motherland” * He received medals, orders and other high state awards of Armenia, the NKR,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

and a number of other countries. * Nominal weapon (gifts from former Minister of Defence Vazgen Sargsyan and former Russian Minister of Defence

Pavel Grachev Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev (russian: Па́вел Серге́евич Грачё́в; 1 January 1948 – 23 September 2012), sometimes transliterated as Grachov or Grachyov, was a Russian Army General and the Defence Minister of the Russian Fed ...

References

External links

Interview dated October 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harutiunyan, Vagharshak 1956 births Living people Armenian generals Government ministers of Armenia Defence ministers of Armenia Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Georgian people of Armenian descent