Why newly appointed head of the National Security Service, Sargis Hovhannisyan, slapped the head of the 'Alpha' group, Armen Avakimov

Yesterday, Sargis Hovhannisyan was appointed as the head of the National Security Service’s protective service by the decree of Armen Sarkissian. He had previously been appointed as the acting head of the Patrol Service a few months ago, although he has been working in this service since the days of Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Just days ago, he received a letter of appreciation from the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan.

We learned that a few days before his appointment, an incident occurred in front of the entire staff, where Hovhannisyan slapped the head of the 'Alpha' group of the same service, Lieutenant Colonel Armen Avakimov. The reason was that Avakimov did not give him a “chest” (a military salute), as he was already relieved from his position and had been transferred to the NSS school. The day before the incident, Avakimov had gone to his previous workplace to settle his final accounts when the altercation took place.

In a conversation with us, Avakimov confirmed that he has been transferred to a different position and declined to answer questions, stating, “Let's not discuss my questions; there is no need for that.” When we posed a question related to the incident, he replied, “If it is necessary for something to be written, I will contact you and explain.”