Vahan Hovanessian will be laid to rest January 3

YEREVAN, December 29. / ARKA /. Vahan Hovannesian, Armenia’s ambassador to Germany, who passed away on December 28 at the age of 58 will be laid to rest on January 3 in Yerevan, the government press service reported.

A relevant decision was made on Monday by a special government commission set up to organize the funeral.

The commission said that the church funeral service will be held on January 2 at 5 pm at  St. Sarkis  Church in the 5th Nork Massive borough in Yerevan. The civil funeral service  will be on January 3 from 11:00 to 13:00 at the Chamber Music Hall after Komitas. The funeral will take place on the same day in Yerevan city pantheon. 

Vahan Hovannesian was a long-time member of the Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation/ Dashnaktsutyun party.

Vahan Hovannesian was born on August 16, 1956 in Yerevan. He graduated with degrees in history and archaeology from the Moscow Pedagogical Institute in 1978 and received his Pd.D in history.

In 1999, he was elected a member of Armenia’s Parliament, becoming chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and National Security and Internal Affairs, and served until 2003 in the ARF’s parliamentary caucus.

On May 25, 2003 he was reelected by the proportional system from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and elected Vice-President of the National Assembly on June 12. He was also a member of both the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Faction and its bureau. On May 12, 2007 he was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly by the proportional system from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

On June 7, 2007 he was elected Vice-President of the National Assembly and on February 28, 2008 he resigned, after the ARF left the governing coalition in objection to the state’s plans to sign the Armenia-Turkey Protocols. On December 28, 2013, Hovannesian was appointed as Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany.-0-