23 Facts About Vano Siradeghyan

Vano Smbati Siradeghyan was an Armenian politician and writer.

Vano Siradeghyan served as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1992 and 1996 and as Mayor of Yerevan from 1996 to 1998.

Vano Siradeghyan disappeared in April 2000 and was wanted by Interpol until his death in 2021 at the age of 74.

Vano Siradeghyan was born on November 13,1946, in the village of Koti in northeastern Armenia, near the Azerbaijani border.

In 1988, Vano Siradeghyan became one of the main members of the Karabakh Committee, which demanded that the Soviet authorities transfer the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR.

Vano Siradeghyan was appointed the Minister of Interior Affairs in 1992 by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, a post he held until 1996.

Galstyan was killed by unknown assailants in December 1994, which was followed by speculation that Vano Siradeghyan had ordered the killing.

Vano Siradeghyan played a key role in the forcible crackdown against Vazgen Manukyan's supporters' protests after the controversial 1996 presidential election.

In November 1996, Vano Siradeghyan resigned from his position at the Interior Ministry.

In July 1997, Vano Siradeghyan was elected head of the Pan-Armenian National Movement's executive body.

Vano Siradeghyan was a member of the National Assembly of Armenia from 1997 to 1999.

On February 1,1998, Vano Siradeghyan resigned from his position as Mayor of Yerevan.

Vano Siradeghyan was charged with 10 offenses, including arson, murder, attempted murder and conspiracy.

In March 1999, Vano Siradeghyan was reelected chairman of the Pan-Armenian National Movement.

At the 11th PANM congress, Vano Siradeghyan criticized President Kocharyan and his alleged "military-police system".

Vano Siradeghyan was arrested on May 3,1999, at Zvartnots Airport after returning to Armenia from Bulgaria.

However, Vano Siradeghyan was elected from a single-constituency district in Yerevan.

Vano Siradeghyan left Armenia in early April 2000 after the National Assembly lifted his parliamentary immunity to allow for his criminal prosecution.

Vano Siradeghyan was deprived of his parliamentary mandate later in November 2001 due to missing more than half of the parliamentary sessions.

In July 2012, a petition for the return of Vano Siradeghyan was initiated by a social network group.

Vano Siradeghyan claimed that he is the last person to see Siradeghyan on April 3,2000, when Siradeghyan allegedly fled Armenia.

Vano Siradeghyan died on 15 October 2021 at the age of 74.

Vano Siradeghyan's remains were buried in his home village of Koti on 4 December 2021 after a wake at the Yerevan Opera Theatre.