Who has been appointed as the acting rector of the Pedagogical University: ‘Zhoghovurd’

Yesterday, sources from ArmLur.am reported that Lilith Mkrtchyan, head of the education news and research department at the Educational Innovation and Development Foundation (KZNAC), has been appointed as the acting rector of the Pedagogical University. This was officially announced today, as reported by the daily newspaper ‘Zhoghovurd’.

Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, who is the chair of the university's board of trustees, decided yesterday to terminate the powers of rector Srbuhi Gevorgyan. According to the newspaper, Mkrtchyan has a history with a scandal dating back to 2020, when she participated in a project with Turkish historians and signed a publication that referred to the Armenian Highlands as ‘Eastern Anatolia’ or ‘Caucasus’. At that time, the director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences was preparing to address this issue with the National Security Service (NSS). Mkrtchyan has never denied this information in her interviews; instead, she stated, “If my colleagues had reacted back then and pointed out the omissions with the same diligence, we might have had a much more useful work by 2019, when the book was published, for which I would have been grateful, but I would like these two processes not to be mixed because they are not related to each other.”

Yesterday, representatives from the education system were shocked by the minister's decision.

It is worth noting that on Friday, October 17, the rector and pro-rector of Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University were arrested as part of a criminal proceeding conducted by the Anti-Corruption Committee. They are accused of creating and leading a criminal organization composed of various university employees, committing large-scale embezzlement and fraud, as well as accepting bribes. Several other university employees were also arrested in connection with the criminal proceedings. It has been reported that former rector Srbuhi Gevorgyan has been placed under house arrest and a bail of 20 million drams has been set. Gevorgyan is a close friend of Minister Zhanna Andreasyan and was appointed rector at her trust.

For more details, refer to the original source.