Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s office did not specify why he relieved Hovannisian of his duties right after a resignation submitted by the latter. The Armenian Interior Ministry did not give any reasons either.
Hovannisian, who ran the police and automatically served as deputy interior minister for only two years, likewise did not shed light on his exit in a written farewell message to his subordinates. The 58-year-old police general praised his track record and thanked Pashinian for “entrusting me with this important position during a period full of trials.”
Nina Karapetiants, a civil rights activist, criticized the authorities over the lack of clarity.
“We will see if this is part of the pre-election period or we are dealing with something that is not visible to the public and has to do with internal bickering or discord,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But I don’t think Mr. Hovannisian is the kind of person who could disagree with the authorities on any issue regardless of who is in power at present.”
Citing unnamed sources, Armlur.am, the news website of the Zhoghovurd daily, claimed that Pashinian ordered Hovannisian to step down because of the latter’s worsening “conflicts” with Interior Minister Arpine Sargsian. The Interior Ministry, of which the Armenian police are a division, denied the report.
A career policeman, Hovannisian has been a fixture during just about every major antigovernment demonstration held in Armenia in the last few years. He personally ordered and coordinated the use of force against angry citizens who protested last year against Pashinian’s unilateral territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.
Security forces led by Hovannisian hurled dozens of stun grenades in downtown Yerevan in June 2024 during scuffles with scores of protesters led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian. At least 83 protesters and 8 journalists were injured as a result.
The riot police are believed to have used Zarya-3 grenades which are designed, according to their Russian manufacturer, to “temporarily suppress mental stability of armed criminals with acoustic and light effects.” Health Minister Anahit Avanesian added them to her ministry’s list of authorized crowd control equipment two weeks after the crackdown. Armenian opposition figures and civil society members seized upon this fact to argue that the use of Zarya-3 was illegal.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also criticized the crackdown. The police and another law-enforcement agency, the Investigative Committee, still refuse to specify the type of explosive devices used by them.
Hovannisian was expected to be replaced by Aram Ghazarian, a retired police officer who has governed the country’s northern Lori province until now. Ghazarian resigned as Lori governor right after the official announcement of Hovannisian’s effective sacking.