Alen Simonyan replaces Armen Grigoryan as Secretary of Security Council

Former parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan was appointed secretary of Armenia’s Security Council on Thursday, according to state news agency Armenpress.

Simonyan, who served as parliamentary speaker between 2021 and 2026, is replacing Armen Grigoryan, who has led the Security Council since the 2018 revolution. At a press briefing later in the day, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he had offered Grigoryan a job in his office.

“Apparently he would like to take a break for now instead. I understand and respect that,” the prime minister said.

One of Grigoryan’s most prominent recent projects was the Bridge of Peace initiative, which brought together Armenian and Azerbaijani civil society representatives for several rounds of meetings hosted by both countries.

Presented as a confidence-building measure aimed at establishing contacts between the two societies, the initiative was criticized in Armenia for involving Azerbaijani participants who, critics argued, were linked to or reported to the Azerbaijani government, given the fact that there is no space for genuinely independent civil society in the country.

Also read: Who’s who in the Armenia-Azerbaijan ‘civil society members’ event?

Simonyan had said he wanted to remain parliament speaker following June’s nationwide election, but lost an internal vote for the position within the ruling Civil Contract party. He was replaced by former deputy speaker Ruben Rubinyan, Armenia’s chief negotiator with Turkey.

Following the defeat, Simonyan announced that he would leave parliament altogether, unwilling to serve as a regular MP.