Pashinyan weighs Simonyan for top security role amid loyalty tests

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is reportedly considering Andranik Simonyan, Deputy Head of the National Security Service (NSS), as a potential candidate for the position of NSS head.

Pashinyan has been assigning identical tasks to both Simonyan and Armen Abazyan, the current acting head of the NSS, to assess their performance and test their loyalty to the current leadership, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

“It is believed that Abazyan does not always follow Pashinyan’s political instructions, while Simonyan eagerly takes on even the most contentious assignments,” the statement says.

Simonyan is said to have willingly taken on the case of former Deputy Chief of Armenia's Armed Forces, Tiran Khachatryan. Last autumn, Pashinyan reportedly sought to arrest the senior military officer, but Argishti Kyaramyan, who was then the head of the Investigative Committee, allegedly refused to carry out the order.

Prior to his appointment to the NSS, Simonyan held a position as a judge in the Lori region. In 2021, he was transferred to Yerevan, where he first became Deputy Head of the Investigative Committee, before being appointed Deputy Head of the NSS just five days later.

According to the report, Simonyan now oversees the work of Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan and regularly reports to Pashinyan.

By Aghakazim Guliyev