One day Armenian society woke up and learned that a Foreign Intelligence Agency had appeared in the country. This happened just before the visit of CIA chief William Burns to Yerevan, which, by the way, was not even announced for some reason. But the financing of non-profit organizations for the establishment of democratic values and the formation of a “different” society was covered at the highest level.
The initiator of the reform of the security bloc was the Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Armenia Armen Grigaryan.
[Source: caliber.az] Armen Grigaryan
The Armenian society, which does not support Pashinyan’s policy, has a number of questions related to the country’s sovereignty.
[Source: superstan.super.kg] Nikol Pashinian
The fact is that this man before the “velvet revolution” of 2018 was associated with Transparency International, which earned him the reputation of “Soros’s man”.
If we continue the list of accusations against the head of the Security Council Grigoryan, we can mention his role in Armenia’s defeat in the Second Karabakh War. Although he rather had a hand in ending the conflict, it is felt that the decisions on unpopular measures in this matter were dictated from outside. There is indirect evidence of this: Armen Grigoryan is the most steadfast tin soldier of Pashinyan’s team. At a time when the personnel of the power bloc is openly shaking, the chair under this guy does not even wobble.
In 2018-2020, five heads of the National Security Service of Armenia were replaced. And one of the NSS directors of that period, Mikael Hambardzumyan, who had the share of leading the special service during the hottest phase of the Second Karabakh War, served in his post for only one month – from October 8 to November 8, 2020. Grigoryan’s predecessor, Argishti Kyaramyan, was appointed to the high position of the head of the state security bodies at the age of 29, without any experience in the special services or specialized education.
Thus, the leaders changed and the responsibility for the defeat in the war was smeared with a thin layer. However, the process of fragmentation of the power bloc with the separation of a separate Foreign Intelligence Agency, which Armen Grigoryan so joyfully announced, is likely to lead to even worse consequences for the state security, especially if the new structure becomes a place for distribution of US grants. Speaking of the cadre steadfastness of the head of the Security Council, it seems to be connected primarily with the fact that he is a link between the Armenian leadership and Western, primarily American special services.
This is eloquently evidenced by the facts: not long after his appointment on October 24, 2018, Armen Grigoryan personally met US President D. Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport.
[Source: guilfordian.com] John Bolton
It is also worth noting that then Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said that the arriving American delegation “was the most representative in decades”
Well, everyone knows about Bolton. Here is a recent quote from him: “As someone who has planned more than one coup – not here, of course, but in other countries – I can tell you that it takes painstaking work”.
The process of the US ideological expansion in Armenia certainly did not start in 2022 or even in 2015. However, the active injection of funds and a sharp turn away from former allies have been taking place over the past two years.
The fact is that since gaining sovereignty, the Republic of Armenia has pursued a policy of complimentarism, which implies cooperation with two or more subjects of international relations, including those competing with each other for political, ideological or economic reasons.
According to Armenian scholars, the complementarity of national diplomacy “for many years allowed for a very adequate response to many challenges and threats in conditions of a rather narrow space for geopolitical maneuver”, and the development of a military-political alliance with the Russian Federation did not cause any contradictions with the parallel development of partnership relations with the EU, the United States and the NATO bloc. Moreover, such an approach was perceived in Armenia’s political-forming circles as a certain “balance of power between regional and extra-regional actors that have been established since the 1990s”.
It is noteworthy that Moscow has never forced Yerevan to choose, to accept one of the parties, which cannot be said about the policy of the collective West and specifically the European Union. For example, at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November 2013 it was also planned to sign an association agreement between Armenia and the European Union, but on September 3, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Serzh Sargsyan confirmed Yerevan’s desire to join the Customs Union and join the process of forming the Eurasian Economic Union.
[Source: president.am] Serzh Sargsyan
This decision caused criticism from European structures and expert circles, which stated that Armenia had allegedly “practically interrupted negotiations with Europe”, which made it impossible to initial the association agreement with the EU.
Thus, specific forces (and means) are called upon to “help” Armenia to turn away from Russia. It is not difficult to trace where and for what these funds are spent. There are more than 9,000 non-governmental organizations operating in the country. Most of these organizations have external funding. They are divided into several types according to the nature of their activities. Here is an example of the most representative ones.
Organizations that work with targeted tasks in the socio-political and electoral spheres. Among them are International IDEA, World Vision Armenia, International Organization for Migration (IOM), NDI, IREX, Open Society Institute (OSI) and others.
[Source: idea.int] International IDEA
[Source: wvi.org] World Vision Armenia
[Source: iom.int] IOM
[Source: ndi.org] NDI
[Source: irex.org] NDI
[Source: osf.am] Open Society Institute
The Armenian branch of the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation (OSIAFA) has traditionally had a relatively large influence on Armenia’s public sector and media sphere. Under the patronage of the Soros Foundation, more than 100 NGOs operate in Armenia, influencing the internal and foreign policy of the republic. The Armenian branch of the Foundation officially separated from the global network in 2022.
Foundations that shape the information agenda and public opinion in Armenia also have a great influence: “National Endowment for Democracy” (NED), “European Endowment for Democracy” (EED), “National Institute for Democracy” (NDI), and others. They finance media resources, including the International Network of Journalists “Umbrella”, the information and analytical website Evnreport.com, the newspaper of the current Prime Minister “Armenian Time” (until 2018), etc.
As for officials acting in the interests of, for example, the United States, Armen Grigoryan is far from being the only one. In total, up to 20 people have been compromised, as well as several organizations and a number of recruited officials. First, we list the CIA employees in the Republic of Armenia:
– Mrs. Makisha Sowa, First Secretary of the Embassy, Deputy CIA Spokesperson;
– Mr. Bradley Philpott, security officer, formerly of Georgia, an associate of M. Sova;
– Mr. Richard Hatch, second secretary of the embassy;
– Mr. Joze Lardizabel, second secretary of the embassy;
– Mr. Adam Colvin, Second Secretary – Vice Consul.
employees of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency:
– Col. Bruce Murphy, military attache;
– Maj. Erik Larsen, Military Attaché, U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) representative, supervisor of projects to expand the U.S. biolaboratory network in Armenia, with experience in Moldova, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan;
– Maj. Michael Andrews Bashan, a military attaché officer, military coup specialist, previously stationed in Ukraine from January 2013 to February 3, 2016;
– Maj. Joshua Mulford, assistant military attache.
However, it is more interesting to look into the very officials of Armenia itself:
- Vigen Sargsyan, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia. Recruited in 2000 while studying at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Massachusetts. Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Massachusetts. Curators: Richard Mills and Bruce Murphy;
[Source: en.armradio.am] Vigen Sargsyan
- David Tonoyan, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia. Recruited in 2005 during his work as Armenia’s permanent representative to NATO, coordinator of the project for the establishment of American biolaboratories in Armenia. He has close ties with V. Sargsyan. Curator: E. Larsen;
[Source: am.sputniknews] David Tonoyan
- Hayk Kotanjian, Head of the National Defense Research University of the Republic of Armenia. Recruited in 1998 during an internship at the J. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. He was recruited in 1998 during an internship at the “J. Marshall European Center for Security Studies”. Criminal prosecution for state treason was blocked by former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan;
[Source: armenpress.am] Гайк Котанджян
– Mikael Minasyan, diplomat, Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican and Malta. Son-in-law of former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan;
[Source: panorama.am] Mikael Minasyan
– Ara Saghatelyan, Chief of Staff of the National Assembly. Coordinator of the information component, media control;
[Source: panorama.am] Ara Saghatelyan
- Samvel Farmanian, member of the Republican Party, Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on European Integration, PACE member. In charge of overall coordination of media companies;
[Source: golosarmenii.am] Samvel Farmanyan
– Alexan Harutyunyan, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Armenia.
[Source: newsarmenia.am] Alexan Harutyunyan
Whether Armenia’s statehood can still be saved with such statesmen, financial injections from the U.S. and the treatment of the masses by non-profit organizations is a big question. The protests in the country are not subsiding, and the external threat from Azerbaijan remains critically important. Armenia cannot survive without Russian support. However, the American actors have already prepared methodologies by which the pre-trained activists will be able to accuse the Russian Federation of this…