Arshak Karapetyan (; born 6 February 1967) is an Armenian major general who served as Minister of Defense of Armenia from 3 August to 15 November 2021.

Biography

Arshak Karapetyan was born on 6 February 1967 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. From 1984 to 1989 he studied in Russia at the Kaliningrad Higher Naval College. From 1994 to 1997 he studied at the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

of the Russian Armed Forces, graduating with a gold medal. In 2006 he took an English-language military course at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

in the United Kingdom, and in 2008 took a course at the Military Academy of the Russian Armed Forces. In 2011, he attended courses at

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

. He served in the Armed Forces of Armenia from 1993 to 2018. He holds the rank of major general. From 2018 to 2021 he was an advisor to Prime Minister

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

. From 13 April to 20 July 2021 he was the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia. On 20 July 2021, by the decision of Prime Minister

, he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense, and on 2 August of the same year, he was appointed Minister of Defense. Karapetyan was dismissed on 15 November 2021 and succeeded by

Suren Papikyan Suren Rafiki Papikyan (; born 26 April 1986) is an Armenian politician currently serving as the Minister of Defense of Armenia. He formerly served as minister of territorial administration and infrastructure and briefly as deputy prime minister ...

. after reporting full control over the border with Azerbaijan the previous day despite Azerbaijani forces having already infiltrated it. He then established a political group critical of Pashinyan called the All-Armenian Front, which called for closer relations with Russian and Iran. Karapetyan became wanted in Armenia on charges of illegal participation in business activities and abuse of power. He also has extensive business ties in Russia, including partnerships with Armenian-born Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, with whom he has no biological relation to. On 29 December 2024, Karapetyan was arrested by Russian authorities in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

following a request from Armenia, but was released on bail shortly afterwards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karapetyan, Arshak 1967 births Living people 21st-century Armenian military personnel Alumni of the University of York Frunze Military Academy alumni Ministers of defence of Armenia Armenian generals