Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Discusses Reasons for Resignation

The only remaining deputy minister of foreign affairs, Armen Ghahondyan, expressed dissatisfaction that the ministry was not adequately involved in foreign policy decisions. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working for 20 years, 30 years, and continues to work for the realization of our national interests,” he stated in a conversation with reporters after today’s government session.

In response to a journalist’s question about why he submitted his resignation, he said, “For the same reasons as all my colleagues.”

“We have said that, overall, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to be more involved in foreign policy decisions,” the senior diplomat added.

It should be noted that he was accompanied by Gegham Gevorgyan, the chairman of the Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition, who is considered close to Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan. Today, the Foreign Ministry’s press release did not mention who had met with Philip Reeker, the acting deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, who arrived in Armenia as part of a regional visit to discuss existing regional issues.

“Philip Reeker had a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia,” the diplomatic agency stated in the distributed message.

We recall that after the document on the demarcation and delimitation of Armenia's borders was circulated, Ara Ayvazyan submitted his resignation from the position of Foreign Minister. On May 31, in a farewell meeting with the Ministry’s staff, Ayvazyan stated, “I have accepted this decision with great difficulty, but when I took on this position, there was a criterion for me: this ministry, born of independence, must relentlessly defend our sovereignty, our independence, our state and national interests. I hope I have not left you ashamed, and my decision to resign was precisely for this reason, so that there would never be any doubt that this ministry could take any steps or agree to any ideas or initiatives that were against our statehood, our national and state interests. We have come a long way together, and today I bid you farewell with the best memories.”

Ayvazyan had submitted his resignation on May 27. On the same day, one of his deputies, Gagik Ghalaqyan, also resigned. The president signed Ara Ayvazyan's resignation on May 31.

Artak Apitonyan, Avet Adonts, and Armen Ghahondyan submitted their resignation requests on June 7. The deputy ministers sent their resignation requests to the Prime Minister’s Office, but only Ghahondyan’s request remained unsigned by the government. Regarding why the only deputy minister’s request had not been signed by the government, acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan told reporters, “There could not have been a situation where there was not a person carrying out the minister's duties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”