Iravunq: Pashinyan to appoint former Karabakh army chief as Armenia's defense minister

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has come up with a plan to appoint Lieutenant General Samvel Babayan, a former commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) military, as the defense minister of Armenia, the paper has learned.

Babayan, who also formerly served as the secretary of the country’s Security Council (May-November 2020), was earlier rumoured to be aspiring himself for the high-ranking office, especially “by the desire and appeal" of Anna Hakobyan, the acting prime minister’s spouse. Yet, the crucial moment for him was apparently the June 20 snap parliamentary election, says the paper, commenting on the available reports.