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Sedrak Saroyan

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Sedrak Firdusi Saroyan[1] (Armenian: Սեդրակ Ֆիրդուսի Սարոյան; 3 September 1967 – 13 August 2022), also known as Seyran Saroyan,[2] was an Armenian general and politician who served in the Parliament of Armenia from 2007 until his resignation in 2018. During his tenure, Saroyan was an independent politician affiliated with the Republican Party of Armenia. Prior to entering politics, Saroyan was a major general in the Armenian Ground Forces, commanding the 2nd Army Corps during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Major General
Sedrak Saroyan
MP
Սեդրակ Սարոյան
Member of Parliament
In office
2007–2018
ConstituencyDistrict 19 (2007–2017)
District 6 (2017–2018)
Personal details
Born(1967-09-03)3 September 1967
Haykashen, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Died13 August 2022(2022-08-13) (aged 54)
Yerevan, Armenia
Resting placeEchmiadzin, Armenia
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Republican Party of Armenia
SpouseKarmen Papikyan
Children4
Alma materNATO General Staff Academy
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union
 Armenia
Branch/service Soviet Army
 Armenian Ground Forces
Years of service1985–1987 (Soviet Union)
1992–2007 (Armenia)
Rank Major General
CommandsArtsvik-10 Battalion
2nd Army Corps
4th Army Corps
Battles/wars

Early life and military career

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Sedrak Saroyan was born on 3 September 1967 in the village of Haykashen in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union.[3] His father, Firdus Saroyan, was the director of the agricultural department of the city of Etchmiadzin; the main office, a two-story fortified compound, would later become the family's home.[4] After graduating from the local high school in 1984, Saroyan enlisted in the enlisted in the Soviet Army, serving from 1985 until 1987. After leaving the army, he briefly worked as an assistant engineer at a regional firm called Haykimia.[3][5]

In 1989, Saroyan, a member of the Karabakh movement, recruited and led a detachment of volunteers in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War against Azerbaijan. During the course of the war, the small detachment transformed into a full battalion, the Artsvik-10 operation group. The battalion fought to defend Armenia's border regions and for the "liberation of Artsakh". Saroyan led the battalion in the battles of Kalbajar, Ghubatly [hy], and Zangilan.[1][3]

In 1992, Saroyan officially joined the Armenian Army, and he was credited with "making a significant contribution to army building and strengthening the army".[5] The following year, he was granted command of the 2nd Army Corps, and at some point he was also granted command of the 4th Army Corps. In 2000, Saroyan was promoted to the rank of major general.[1] Between the late-1990s and the mid-2000s, Saroyan attended several foreign military academies, including the NATO General Staff Academy in Greece and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, graduating from the later with a degree in military security.[3][5]

Political career

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On 13 February 2007, Saroyan resigned his command of the 4th Army Corps in order to run for the Parliament of Armenia in the 2007 Armenian parliamentary election.[6] Saroyan stated that he became a politician in order to allow command of the army to pass to a new generation of soldiers and to help fix the socio-economic situation in Armenia. However, he also stated that should Azerbaijani forces invade Armenia, he would be on frontlines of the war.[5] Saroyan successfully contested the 19th electoral district as an independent candidate, though would sit as a member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia's parliamentary group.[3] Saroyan was re-elected in the 2012 Armenian parliamentary election.[3] In the 2017 Armenian parliamentary election, Saroyan ran in the 6th electoral district, defeating fellow Republican Party MP Arakel Movsisyan [hy] and six other candidates to win re-election.[3][7] While in parliament, Saroyan served as deputy minister of defense and was on the Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs.[3][8]

During the 2017 election, an investigation conducted by Hetq, an Armenian newspaper, revealed that Saroyan frequently downplayed how many properties he owned. In addition to his father's home in Etchmiadzin and a luxury home in Yerevan, Saroyan owned several parcels of land in Armenia, as well as homes in the Russian cities of Vsevolozhsk and Sochi. The investigation also revealed that Saroyan also owned several properties near the city of Odesa in Ukraine, including a house that was gifted to him in 2010 which he denied ever owning. In addition to properties, Saroyan also owned several businesses, including a beverage company called Sarkop, which he split ownership of with Russian businessman Yuri Koptyev [ru], and a retail company called S. Saroyan Brothers, Ltd.[4]

During his tenure, Saroyan was a staunch supporter of the RPA status quo and of the military. In 2014, he criticized Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of Prosperous Armenia, for a statement the latter made on the necessity of a revolution to shift the balance of power in Armenia.[9] The following year, Saroyan was part of a parliamentary delegation to Tbilisi and Jerusalem in order to honor the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Other members of the delegation included fellow Republican Party MP Manvel Grigoryan, Syunik Province governor Suren Khachatryan, and Armenian ambassador to Georgia Yuri Vardanyan.[10] In 2017, Saroyan opposed the dismissal of Haykaz Baghmanyan [hy], a powerful general who was fired by President Serzh Sargsyan due to allegations of corruption.[11][12] That year, Saroyan proposed giving aid to seven villages that were affected by a severe hailstorm.[13] In 2018, he opposed a proposal by the Armenian Ministry of Health which would levy a 250,000 AMD (517.61 USD) fine on people who smoked in public.[14] During the 2018 Armenian revolution, Saroyan was opposed to a conciliatory proposal which would have seen opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan become prime minister, stating that it was the duty of the RPA as the ruling party to oppose the opposition's bid for leadership; despite this initial opposition, the RPA conceded and Pashinyan was ultimately elected prime minister.[15][16]

During his tenure, Saroyan became a close ally of Grigoryan, who had been another general-turned-MP, and the pair were described by the media as "Siamese twins".[17] However, a 2018 investigation by the National Security Service revealed that Grigoryan had stolen multiple crates of military supplies, including food and weapons. Saroyan publicly broke from Grigoryan, praising his arrest and calling for his prosecution, stating that Grigoryan had gone "from a hero to a tushonka thief".[18][19] However, the following year, Saroyan began to cast doubts on the accusations, stating that the supplies may have been acquired legally.[20]

Later life and death

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Later in 2018, Saroyan resigned from parliament, and he left the country to undergo medical treatment in Germany.[21] Upon Saroyan's return to Armenia in August 2019, he was detained for several hours at the airport by police officers enforcing a crackdown on oligarchs.[22] The following day, it was reported in local media outlets that Saroyan's compound in Etchmiadzin was raided by the police for alleged financial crimes. However, Saroyan denied that the police entered his compound, stating that the reporting was disinformation.[23]

After leaving parliament, Saroyan became a supporter of Pashinyan, stating that he was "establishing law and order" in the country.[20] In August 2019, Saroyan expressed his opposition to the ratification by Armenia of the Istanbul Convention, a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe which would establish provisions meant to curb violence against women and domestic violence.[24][25]

Saroyan was married to Liana Saroyan and had between 2 and 4 children.[5][26][27] Saroyan died on 13 August 2022 at the age of 54 at the Izmirlian Medical Center in Yerevan, and was buried in Echmiadzin two days later.[28][29] Saroyan had been suffering from chronic health issues, particularly issues with his blood vessels.[8]

Decorations and awards

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Saroyan was the recipient of the following military decorations and awards:[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Սեդրակ Ֆիրդուսի Սարոյան" [Sedrak Firdus Saroyan]. Parliament of Armenia (in Armenian). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  2. ^ "Скончался генерал-майор Сейран Сароян" [Major General Seyran Saroyan dies]. Armenia Today (in Russian). 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sedrak Saroyan". Parliament of Armenia. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  4. ^ a b "Armenian MP Sedrak Saroyan: Running in the Upcoming Parliamentary Election Makes Him "Lose Track" of Vast Property Holdings". Hetq.am. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Եթե վաղը թշնամին ոտնձգություն կատարի, առաջիններից մեկը կլինեմ, որ կգնամ ռազմաճակատ" [If the enemy attacks tomorrow, I will be one of the first to go to the front]. Lurer.com (in Armenian). November 21, 2013. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  6. ^ "General Sedrak Saroyan Relieved of Post of Commander of 4th Army Corps". Noyan Tapan. February 14, 2007. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  7. ^ "На парламентских выборах в Армении Шмайс может получить больше голосов, чем я" [Schmais may get more votes than me in the parliamentary elections in Armenia]. Panorama.am (in Russian). February 18, 2017. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  8. ^ a b "Скончался генерал Карабахской войны Сейран Сароян" [General of the Karabakh war Seyran Saroyan dies]. 24News.am (in Russian). August 13, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  9. ^ Nana, Martirosyan (November 1, 0214). "Seyran Saroyan: When has Gagik Tsarukyan become a revolutionary?". Arminfo.info. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  10. ^ "Armenian Generals in Tbilisi". Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Holy Church in Georgia. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  11. ^ "Sedrak Saroyan: Do you think he has become reach due to the army?". A1plus. December 13, 2017. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  12. ^ "Top Armenian General Fired". Asbarez. December 5, 2017. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  13. ^ "Sedrak Saroyan: We can fight against Turkey, but we cannot fight against hail?". A1plus. June 21, 2017. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  14. ^ "Сейран Сароян: «Разве у народа есть такие деньги – 250 тыс. драмов, чтобы оплачивать эти штрафы?»" [Seyran Saroyan: “Do people have that kind of money – 250,000 drams – to pay these fines?”]. NovostiNK (in Russian). February 6, 2018. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  15. ^ Kucera, Joshua (May 1, 2018). "Armenia's parliament rejects opposition leader; protests resume". Eurasianet. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  16. ^ Stepanian, Ruzanna (May 2, 2018). "Armenian Parliament Majority Signals Support For Pashinian's Bid To Be PM". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  17. ^ "Deputies Grigorian and Saroyan have serious health problems". Aysor.am. September 10, 2013. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  18. ^ "Seyran Saroyan: How can one become from the hero to the thief of 'tushonka'?". A1plus. June 19, 2018. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  19. ^ "Депутат НС Армении Сейран Сароян: Как после этого Манвел Григорян будет смотреть мне в глаза?" [Seyran Saroyan, Deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia: How will Manvel Grigoryan look me in the eyes after that?]. Panorama.am (in Russian). June 19, 2018. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  20. ^ a b Khachatryan, Marine (August 20, 2019). "Jailed General Again Denied Bail". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  21. ^ "General Seyran Saroyan Has Died at the Age of 54". Oragark. 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  22. ^ "Не успел Сейран Сароян спуститься на землю, как его уже забрали" [Seyran Saroyan did not have time to go down to the ground, as he was already taken away]. 7or.am (in Russian). August 23, 2019. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  23. ^ "Генерал Сейран Сароян опроверг публикации в СМИ "о разборке" в его доме" [General Seyran Saroyan denied media publications "about dismantling" in his house]. Newsarmenia.am (in Russian). August 20, 2019. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  24. ^ Council of Europe (2011). "Explanatory Report to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence". Council of Europe. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  25. ^ "General Seyran Saroyan convinced Armenia's PM not to allow ratification of Istanbul Convention". Aysor.am. August 20, 2019. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  26. ^ "Сейран Сароян" [Seyran Saroyan]. autogear.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  27. ^ "General Seyran Saroyan, Armenia former MP, dies". News.am. August 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  28. ^ "Retired general Seyran Saroyan dies". Armenpress. August 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  29. ^ "Генерал Сейран Сароян будет похоронен в родном селе" [General Seyran Saroyan will be buried in his native village]. Radar.am (in Russian). August 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
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