Kotayk Region Effectively Managed by Sasun Mikayelyan's Daughter: What Position Does She Hold?

The newspaper "Hraparak" reports that the newly appointed governor of Kotayk, Mesrop Mesropyan, a relative of Sasun Mikayelyan's wife, has two deputies, one chief secretary, and one advisor, as per the information published on the governor's office website. There is mention of another advisory position, but no name is provided, implying that there is a name, but it is not mentioned. Furthermore, there is no reference to the governor's assistants on the governor's office website. However, according to our sources, Mesrop Mesropyan has assistants, specifically two instead of one. One of them, we were informed, is Sasun Mikayelyan's daughter, Satehnik Mikayelyan, who is also an MP from the "My Step" faction and the head of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Foundation. Christine Poghosyan, the press secretary of the Kotayk governor, told us that the governor has two assistants, one being Avetik Mesropyan and the other Satehnik Mikayelyan. Both have recently been appointed as assistants to the governor, following Mesropyan's appointment. Incidentally, it cannot be ruled out that Avetik Mesropyan may also be a relative of Mesrop Mesropyan, although the spokesperson stated that, to her knowledge, they do not have close familial ties, but Mesropyan appointed him as an assistant.

“Satehnik Mikayelyan is not new to the governor's office; she has been working there since 2018. Before this, she worked in the secretariat department, and she was appointed as an assistant to the governor just last week,” the spokesperson said. Regarding why the names of the assistants are not listed on the governor's office website, Poghosyan explained that it is due to technical reasons, as biographies need to be submitted for posting; they may be provided tomorrow, and the following day they will be posted.

Our sources within the governor’s office indicated that following Mesropyan's appointment as governor, the office is effectively managed by Satehnik, Sasun Mikayelyan's daughter, who has just been appointed to this role. Mikayelyan's daughter oversees the entrance to the governor’s office—who enters, what they do, who can meet with the governor—in short, she is the shadow leader of the governor's office. Thus, Sasun Mikayelyan's desire has been realized, as the Kotayk region and the governor's office have completely fallen under his control. After sending his number one enemy, Romanos Petrosyan, to the ministry, he succeeded in making his ally the governor, who does not make independent decisions, and arranged for his daughter to be formalized as the governor’s assistant so that he could effectively govern the Kotayk region. And since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's primary concern has been to nullify Gagik Tsarukyan's influence in the region, and no one could do that better than Sasun, this is a mutually beneficial arrangement between the Prime Minister and his party member.

It is worth noting that the mayor of Hrazdan is also Sasun Mikayelyan's son, Sevak Mikayelyan. Incidentally, residents of Hrazdan are not dissatisfied with him, especially in contrast to the former RPA mayor, Aram Danielyan.