US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN353

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000353 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/CACEN, EUR/SNEC, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, AM 
SUBJECT: KOCHARIAN'S INNER CIRCLE:  ACCESS BUT LIMITED 
INFLUENCE 
 
REF: 03 YEREVAN 2975 
 
Classified By: Ambassador John Ordway for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (c) President Kocharian has a small inner circle with 
direct access to him and the potential to influence his 
thinking on foreign policy matters.  Within this inner circle 
are Foreign Minister Oskanian, Minister of Defense Sargsian, 
Head of State TV Harutyunian, Presidential Chief of Staff 
Tumanyan, and First Assistant to the President Gevorkian. 
While these advisors all have essentially unfettered access 
to the President, it is doubtful that any of them is in a 
position to influence his decisions:  on the contrary, their 
positions either coincide with his or are derived from his. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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GEVORGIAN:  NOT QUITE AN EMINENCE GRISE? 
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2. (c) Armen Gevorgian (born in Yerevan in 1973), First 
Assistant to the President, is essentially always at 
Kocharian's side.  While his access is unparalleled and some 
in Yerevan refer to him as an "eminence grise," he does not 
appear to influence the President so much as serve as a foil 
for him.  Intensely loyal, Gevorgian joined Kocharian's 
office in 1997, while Kocharian was still Prime Minister, and 
moved with him to the President's office.  From 1990-1997 
Gevorgian studied at St. Petersburg's Institute of Public 
Administration, and holds a Ph.D. in Pedagogy.  He recently 
married a medical student, and speaks excellent Russian as 
well as some English. 
 
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SARGSIAN:  A FINGER IN EVERY PIE 
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3. (c) Minister of Defense Serzh Sargsian, long-time 
confidant and Presidential ally, has close economic ties with 
many of President Kocharian's interests (reftel).  Born in 
1954 in Stepanakert, Sargsian shares with Kocharian and his 
closest confidants the deep conviction that N-K must be 
protected at all costs.  His ties to the military are crucial 
to Kocharian's power base, and his and the President's 
beliefs are most likely to coincide. 
 
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HARUTYUNIAN:  KEEPING INFORMATION ON TRACK 
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4. (c) Head of State TV (and former Presidential Chief of 
Staff) Aleksan Harutyunian is an intensely loyal, long-time 
friend of Kocharian.  Born in 1965 in Karabakh, his family 
moved to Yerevan in the early 1970s.  Active in Armenia's 
independence movement, Harutyunian briefly worked in the 
Presidential Administration in 1992 before being assigned to 
the Armenian Embassy in Paris.  Harutyunian took a position 
as Karabakh Permanent Representative in Armenia in 1995 
before joining Kocharian's staff in 1997, and served as Chief 
of Staff 1998-2000.  In early 2000 Harutyunian was detained 
for several months in connection with the October 27, 1999 
parliamentary shootings, and allegedly tortured in jail. 
Harutyunian was appointed head of Armenian State TV in 
January of 2003, following the December 29, 2002 
assassination of the previous holder of that position, Tigran 
Naghdalian. 
 
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TUMANYAN:  AN EFFECTIVE GATEKEEPER 
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5. (c) Presidential Chief of Staff Artashes Tumanyan, born in 
1949, has been active in Armenian politics since 1990.  A 
former deputy speaker of parliament, 1992-1995, Tumanyan 
headed the Armenian tax inspectorate from 1997-1999. 
Although Tumanyan is seen as a close friend of Kocharian, and 
can limit other people's access, he doesn't exert a great 
deal of influence of his own.  Most recently he has been 
Kocharian's principal interlocutor on matters dealing with 
the Lincy Foundation and its extensive infrastructure 
projects in Armenia.  Although he does not have as high a 
public profile as Serzh Sargsian, he is nonetheless widely 
known to the public.  The Ambassador spent a day in October 
2003 travelling with Tumanyan to visit a number of 
Lincy-funded projects.  Tumanyan, who was driving, made 
occasional stops to speak to villagers--all of whom 
immediately recognized him and proceeded to engage him on 
local concerns. 
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OSKANIAN:  TOES THE PARTY LINE 
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6. (c) Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, although he appears 
to have limited influence on the President's thinking, at 
least can generally be counted on to accurately relay both 
the content and tone of foreign governments' messages.  A 
former Tufts professor and former U.S. citizen, Oskanian is a 
savvy interlocutor, with good access to the President, but 
with only limited influence.  Oskanian is fully capable of 
thinking "outside the box," but cannot always deliver the 
President when it comes time for a decision.  Oskanian, 
however, has been given more running room on improving 
relations with Turkey--despite the fact that Kocharian when 
speaking to us on the subject is decidedly more pessimistic. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7. (c) While all of these men have immediate and liberal 
access to the President, as the President's Special Advisor 
for Economics Nercissiantz told us recently, "Kocharian 
doesn't listen to anyone."  Nercissiantz noted that he has 
found giving Kocharian, an avid reader, thought-provoking 
English-language books to read is the best way to open the 
President's mind to new ways of viewing a particular issue. 
ORDWAY