WikiLeaks – Armenia No 17
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000769
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.
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CHANGES IN SYUNIK PROVINCE
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¶3. (SBU) The government named Suren Khachatrian, (aka “Liska”) as the new governor of Armenia’s southern Syunik province. Khachatrian, a 47-year-old former auto mechanic and two-term parliamentarian, has close ties with the Prime Minister’s Republican Party. He gained political prominence during Armenian military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992-94, when he served as a commander of paramilitary and army units in his native town of Goris. Since then the Khachatrian family has gained control over the local Syunik administration and a host of businesses. Some claim that the Khachatrian family considers the province to be their de facto personal fiefdom.
¶4. (SBU) Media reports have linked Khachatrian to violent incidents reported in Goris since 1996. The most recent rumor involved Khachatrian’s two nephews, who are currently facing criminal charges for murdering a local man in early March. With this new appointment, “Liska” will give up his parliamentary mandate. (Note: An opposition newspaper recently suggested a campaign to nominate “Liska” to the Guinness Book of World Records for “not uttering a single word during his eight years in parliament.” End Note.) The Central Election Commission (CEC) will announce the date of the parliamentary by-election in Goris in early April.
WALKER
