Relatives of missing soldiers demand to cancel resignation of Armenian NSS chief
Relatives of the missing soldiers during Karabakh wars are blocking traffic in Bagramyan Avenue in protest against the dismissal of Armen Abazyan, the head of the Armenian National Security Service (NSS), who conducted extensive work to search for the missing soldiers.
As of October 2022, 217 people have been officially recognized as missing during the 44-day war in Armenia. The parents of the soldiers, whose fate remained unclear after the war, are periodically holding actions holding rallies near the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Government.
Relatives of missing soldiers have spent the night in Bagramyan Avenue in Yerevan, which was blocked yesterday afternoon. Parents spent the night in the avenue. They demand from the Premier, Nikol Pashinyan, to repeal the decision to resign Armen Abazyan, who was dismissed from his post the day before. Relatives note that a lot of work had been done by Abazyan to search for those missing; and now they don’t know who will continue this work, the "News Armenia" Agency has reported.
As follows from the video from the venue posted today by the “News.Am” outlet, the road is blocked by a police car; and apart from people in civilian clothes, there are many law enforcers at the venue. The situation at the road blocking is calm.
Abazyan's dismissal became known shortly after the arrest of Samvel Karapetyan, a businessman and philanthropist. Karapetyan was detained by the police, although given the seriousness of the charge – public calls for a change of power – the arrest should have been entrusted to the NSS. Journalists tried to clarify their suspicions that Abazyan was fired for refusing to detain Karapetyan in a conversation with the Prime Minister. However, Pashinyan said that "Abazyan needs to rest" and "the NSS Director cannot refuse to carry out my order," the “News.Am” writes today.
The Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has stated in this regard in the National Assembly that the dismissal of the NSS Director does not change anything; he personally met with the parents on June 6 and promised that he would answer their questions within two months.
This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 19, 2025 at 10:49 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.