KOCHARIAN SACKS INTEL SERVICE CHIEF

S E C R E T YEREVAN 002447 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN E.O. 12958: DNG: CO 11/08/2014 TAGS: PREL PGOV AM SUBJECT: KOCHARIAN SACKS INTEL SERVICE CHIEF Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- KOCHARIAN SACKS NSS CHIEF -------------- ¶1. (C) President Robert Kocharian fired his Minister of the National Security Service (NSS) Karlos Petrossian November 5. Although there have been frequent rumors about Petrossian's departure, the immediate cause for his fall from grace appears to be the most recent report of Petrossian's corruption that reached the President's desk. -------------- TOO MANY COMPLAINTS TO IGNORE -------------- ¶2. (S) GOAM lawyer Vahe Yacoubian (a U.S. citizen) who said he and the Minister of Justice David Harutunyan were with the President when he made the call to fire Petrossian, told us that "Karlos just went over the line once too often." The most recent incident involved a high-end car stolen in Greece that Interpol located in Yerevan, the police confiscated and that then disappeared from police custody only to turn up in a shipment of cars bound for Russia at the Georgian border. According to Yacoubian, complaints about Petrossian's alleged involvement reached President Kocharian separately from the local Interpol office, the Greek insurance company that had filed the initial reports, and Armenian Revolutionary Faction (ARF) Dashnaks (part of the governing coalition) who had been contacted by the car's owner in Greece. The complaint from the Dashnaks was "the straw that broke the camel's back," according to Yacoubian: Kocharian simply could not afford to let Petrossian continue to alienate the politically crucial Dashnaks. -------------- NO PRE-CHOSEN SUCCESSOR -------------- ¶3. (C) Because Petrossian's departure had not been scheduled, no successor was immediately apparent. Press reports and ministerial contacts speculate that NSS Deputy Minister Feliks Tsolakyan, Presidential National Security Advisor Garnik Isagulyan and former Kashatagh Marzpet Aleksan Hakobyan are the leading candidates to replace Petrossian. EVANS