When We Were Attacked, He Covered Me Completely, Taking the Hit Himself: Raffi Hovhannisyan on Hayrapetyan

The leader of the Heritage party and Armenia's first Foreign Minister, Raffi Hovhannisyan, has reflected on a service episode of the late former head of the NSS State Protection, Grigori Hayrapetyan.

He particularly noted: “Grigori Hayrapetyan was a fearless, honest, and dignified Armenian man, a dedicated family man, and a highly professional state protector. He devoted his entire conscious life to the homeland. In the first year of our Republic, in 1991, he was attached to the foreign minister. However, I, perhaps naively, thought that the country, which was responsible for the war and numerous other challenges, needed the service of a youthful officer at Grisha’s level elsewhere, while we would do our part with God’s guidance and openly with the people. I let our bodyguards go. Exceptionally, he joined to secure the now-famous 'Istanbul' mission abroad as required.

After a tense meeting of the Council of Europe foreign ministers, when we were returning from Karin-Erzurum to Margara by land, suddenly and from an unknown corner, our car was subjected to multiple shots; the windows shattered. The selfless soldier of the Republic of Armenia, the future general, sitting next to me in the back seat, covered me with his entire body, taking the hit and wound upon himself. The details here are not important; rather, the reality is that this was probably just another unrecorded page in Grisha's whole biography of service to the homeland.

Since then, the authorities have come and gone, but he remained the same Man—fearless and respectful, with a straight spine, inherently dignified. May those who are worthy live with a piece of his example.”