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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Armenian president dismisses defense minister

David Tonoyan, who held the office since May 2018, will be replaced by Chief Adviser to Armenia’s Prime Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan, the presidential press office reported

Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan Alexei Yereshko/Russian Defense Ministry Press Office/TASS

Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan

© Alexei Yereshko/Russian Defense Ministry Press Office/TASS

YEREVAN, November 20. /TASS/. Armenian President Armen Sarkisyan has made a decision to dismiss Defense Minister David Tonoyan and appoint Chief Adviser to the republic’s Prime Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan to this post, the presidential press office reported on Friday.

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"Based on the prime minister’s proposal, the president has signed a decree on dismissing Defense Minister David Tonoyan. By another presidential decree, Vagharshak Harutyunyan has been appointed as the new defense minister," the press office said.

Tonoyan was appointed as the Armenian defense minister in May 2018 after political changes in the republic. Before that, he held the posts of the head of the Emergencies Ministry and a deputy defense minister in various years.

Lieutenant General Harutyunyan held the post of the Armenian defense minister in 1999-2000. In 1991, he graduated from the Naval Academy and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. In 1992-1994, he served as the deputy chief of the CIS Joint Armed Forces General Command Staff.

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