NEW DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER THE FIRST IN A

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002793

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV AM
SUBJECT: NEW DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER THE FIRST IN A
SERIES


1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified. Please treat
accordingly.

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SUMMARY
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2. (SBU) Armenian President Robert Kocharian named
Armen Bayburdian Deputy Foreign Minister (DFM)
December 24. Bayburdian joins current Deputy
Foreign Ministers Tatul Margarian (expected to be
named Ambassador to the U.S. after Arman Kirakossian
returns to Yerevan) and Ruben Shugarian (scheduled
to be Armenia's next ambassador to Italy). We
expect that the president will name Arman
Kirakossian and Gegham Gharibjanian to the two DFM
positions that will come open early in 2005. End
Summary.

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ARMEN BAYBURDIAN
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3. (SBU) New Deputy Foreign Minister Armen
Bayburdian previously served as a GOAM DFM from 1997
to 2000, and as Armenia's Ambassador to India,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nepal from 2000 to 2004.
Born in 1964 in Yerevan, Bayburdian is an expert on
Armenian-European relations. Bayburdian joined the
Armenian Foreign Service in 1993 and, in addition to
his previously listed positions, has served as the
Deputy UN Permanent Representative in New York from
1993 to 1995, as the Consul General in Los Angeles
from 1996 to 1997. Bayburdian is married with three
children.

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ARMAN KIRAKOSSIAN
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4. (SBU) Arman Kirakossian, 48, has been Ambassador
to the U.S. since 1999. Before taking up his
current position in Washington, he was Ambassador to
Greece; in the early 90s he served as Armenia's
First Deputy Foreign Minister. A historian by
training, Kirakossian and his wife have one son.

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GEGHAM GHARIBJANIAN
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5. (SBU) Gegham Gharibjanian served as Armenian
Ambassador to Iran and Qatar for six years,
following a stint in the National Assembly in the
mid-90s. He returned to Yerevan in mid-December
2004 and is expected to be named Deputy Foreign
Minister in early 2005. Born in 1951, Gharibjanian
has extensive experience in the Middle East, and
worked as a translator in Iran from 1978 to 1981. A
fellow student and long-time friend of Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian, Gharibjanian's wife, Aida,
performed with the Armenian State Dance Ensemble;
their two daughters and son are students in Yerevan.
EVANS