Aghvan Vardanyan

Vardanyan was born in 1958 in the village of Gemur in Nakhichevan, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. He studied at Yerevan State University from 1977 to 1982 in the Faculty of Philology. From 1982 to 1987, Vardanyan served as the executive secretary of the Yerevan University newspaper. For the next three years, Vardanyan worked for Aghbyur and Garoun magazines, and in 1987, became a member of the Writers Union of Armenia. He joined Armenian Revolutionary Federation party in 1990, and until 1993 served as secretary of the Writer's Union of Armenia. Between 1991 and 1993, Vardanyan served as the Chief Editor of the newspaper Yerkir and from 1993 to 1994 was an employee of the radio station Azatutyun (Liberty).[1]

From 1994 to 1996, Vardanyan worked for Droshak magazine in Athens and between 1996 and 1999 served as Chief Editor of the Media Center Yerevan. In 1999, he was elected Deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia and the same year became a member of ARF Bureau. In 2001, Vardanyan was elected a member of ARF Supreme Body and Head of ARF faction and two years later he was elected Deputy of the RA National Assembly and was appointed the RA Minister of Social Security.[1] His tenure as a deputy was marred by corruption, and due to it, on May 1, 2018, he filed resignation.[2] On May 4 of the same year, the Supreme Council of Armenia announced of his dismissal from the ARF party.[3]