US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN2447

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). 
 
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KOCHARIAN SACKS NSS CHIEF 
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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. 
 
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TOO MANY COMPLAINTS TO IGNORE 
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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. 
 
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NO PRE-CHOSEN SUCCESSOR 
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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