National Security Service (Armenia)

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National Security Service of Armenia
Հայաստանի Ազգային Անվտանգության Ծառայություն
Emblem of the National Security Service of Armenia.svg
The emblem of The National Security Service of Armenia
Administrative Building of the National Security 03.JPG
The National Security headquarters in Yerevan
Agency overview
Formed4 December 1991
Preceding agencies
  • KGB
  • KGB of the Armenian SSR
JurisdictionGovernment of Armenia
EmployeesUndisclosed
Agency executive
  • Colonel Armen Abazyan, Director
Websitewww.sns.am

National Security Service of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստանի Ազգային Անվտանգության Ծառայություն) is a state agency of Armenia, responsible for national security and intelligence and providing border troops, cryptographers, and the personal security to the Prime Minister of Armenia.[1][2]

History[]

A 2018 stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of NSS

In late September 1991, the Soviet republic of Armenia declared its independence and therefore began the process of restructuring its Soviet-era security agencies, including the Committee for State Security (KGB) of the Armenian SSR.[3] According to a law on the structure and composition of the government adopted on 4 December 1991, the KGB was renamed into the State Directorate of National Security, with Major General Husik Suren Harutyunyan becoming its first director, serving until February 1992.[4]

Between 1996 and 1999, the government went through the process of uniting the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs into one department. Despite rumors that the NSS will be dismembered into several departments to follow a Russian format, the service runs with a KGB-style semi-militarized structure which remains unchanged since its establishment. On 17 December 2002, President Robert Kocharyan restructured the National Security Ministry into the NSS.[5][6]

Operations[]

It is known to have participated in both the 2016 Yerevan hostage crisis[7] and the 2018 anti-corruption crackdown.[8] During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, 46 servicemen of the NSS Border Troops were killed, with 191 others wounded, and 2 declared missing.[9] During the protests following the 2020 Karabkah ceasefire agreement, the NSS foiled an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, uncovering the illegal acquisition and storage of weapons and explosives by a group of people led by former NSS operative and director Artur Vanetsyan.[10]

Structure[]

The NSS maintains senior organs as well as a central administration and regional directorates:[11]

  • Central Administration
  • Regional Authorities
  • State Protection Service
  • NSS Border Guard

The Armenian Border Guard has, since 2004, been under the jurisdiction of the NSS after remaining under the control of the Ministry of Defence for 12 years.

NSS Union[]

In April 2021,[12] group of former senior NSS officials formed an organization called the Union of NSS Reserve Officers. The union includes, in particular, ex-director of the NSS Artur Vanetsyan, former commander of the border troops Armen Abrahamyan, former Deputy Head of the NSS Grigory Harutyunyan, and former Acting Director of the NSS Mikael Hambardzumyan. The task of the union is to confront the challenges and threats to security, collect facts of the subversive activities of some structures, and use the experience of officers to solve the country's security problems. Although initially created as an apolitical structure, it supported the army officials who signed a statement drafted by General Staff calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.[13]

Directors[]

  • Major General Usik Harutyunyan (1991–1992)[14]
  • Major General Valery Poghosyan (1992–1993)
  • Major General Eduard Simonyants (1993–1994)
  • David Shahnazaryan (1994–1995)
  • Serzh Sargsyan (1996–1999)
  • Lieutenant General Carlos Petrosyan (1999–2004)
  • Colonel General Gorik Hakobyan (2004–2016)
  • Major General Georgi Kutoyan (2016–2018)
  • Major General Arthur Vanetsyan (2018–2019)
  • Colonel Eduard Martirosyan (2019–2020)[15]
  • Colonel Argishti Kyaramyan (June 2020–October 2020)[16]
  • Colonel Armen Abazyan (November 2020- )

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Armenia's National Security Service reveals another unsuccessful attempt of Azerbaijani propaganda". armenpress.am. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Armenia National Security Service exposes another failed Azerbaijan propaganda attempt". news.am. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. ^ Paradox of power: Russia, Armenia, and Europe after the Velvet Revolution. 7 August 2019.
  4. ^ "History". www.sns.am. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. ^ "History".
  6. ^ https://freedomhouse.org/report/countries-crossroads/2006/armenia
  7. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Hostage Crisis Continues in Armenia". Refworld. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. ^ France-Presse, Agence (17 July 2016). "Armenian opposition group takes hostages in Yerevan police building". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  9. ^ 46 servicemen of Armenia NSS border troops killed during NK war
  10. ^ "Assassination attempt on Pashinyan stopped - Armenian National Security". TASS. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Служба национальной безопасности Республики Армения - Структура Службы национальной безопасности РА".
  12. ^ "Основана общественная организации "Союз офицеров запаса Службы национальной безопасности"".
  13. ^ "Союз офицеров запаса Службы нацбезопасности Армении: Нельзя допустить, чтобы фанатичные популисты разделяли народ | Новости политики".
  14. ^ Биография
  15. ^ "Eduard Martirosyan appointed NSS Director".
  16. ^ "Armenia PM announces names of new police, national security and army chiefs".
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