Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has fired the head of the State Protocol Service, Gagik Vanoyan. The government hasn’t commented on the decision, but during a recent visit of the Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov to Armenia, Vanoyan was apparently responsible for a speech for Pashinyan in which the Kyrgz leader was referred to as the president of Kazakhstan.
In their joint speech during the visit, Pashinyan referred to Japarov as ‘Kazakhstan’s president’ while reading from a text. Armenia’s head of state protocol is responsible for overseeing the prime minister's speeches. Vanoyan has held the position since 2022 and in August, when forming the new government, Pashinyan reappointed him.
When the Armenian government fires high-ranking public officials or asks them to resign, it does not always provide a reason. In August, amid growing scrutiny over non-combat deaths among Armenian soldiers, Pashinyan ordered two personnel adjustments in the army, though he did not list the deaths as the reason for dismissal.
In October, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan also formally dismissed Colonel Artsvik Grigoryan from his position as deputy commander of the Special Army Corps, following a motion by Pashinyan.
The director of Armenia’s Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Edita Gzoyan, ‘resigned’ following a dispute that staff at the museum linked to protocol issues surrounding a visit by US Vice President JD Vance in March. Later, Pahsinyan later confirmed that he had fired Gzoyan for giving Vance a book on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
During the Kyrgyz leader’s official visit to Armenia, the two countries signed a joint statement pledging to strengthen friendship, respect sovereignty and equality, settle disputes peacefully, avoid force, and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs on 17 October. They also agreed to deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
The State Protocol Service did not clarify the reason for Vanoyan’s dismissal. OC Media sent an information request to the service to obtain more information.