Dismissed YSU employee accuses university rector of serving interests  of  Armenian authorities

ArmInfo.  Khachik Abajyan, Deputy  Director of the Student Affairs Center at Yerevan State University (YSU), after his dismissal from the university, has addressed an open letter to the university's rector, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan.

As noted in the letter, that was circulated, Abajyan,  particularly,  accused the YSU rector of being sycophantic towards the Armenian  authorities, emphasizing that the process of his dismissal is not  based on legality, but rather on political grounds. Abajyan pointed  out that on July 9, 2025, Hovhannisyan notified the employees of the  Center about the termination of their employment contracts from July  11, referring to paragraph 2 of part 1 of article 113 of the Labor  Code of Armenia, while violating its provisions. These provisions  stipulate that the employer is obliged to notify the employee in  writing about the termination of the contract no later than two  months in advance. In this vein, he expressed his conviction that the  rector was forced to change the terms of termination of the contract  at the last minute, but did not change the reference to the relevant  article paragraph.

 "You mentioned the decision of the YSU Board of Trustees of 2019,  but failed to acknowledge that in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the same  board approved the structure and staffing schedule of YSU, thereby  confirming that the Student Affairs Center is indeed a structural  division of the university. Therefore, all your references are  fictitious," the deputy director of the Center explained. In light of  this, he expressed confidence that the dismissal process was not  initiated by Hovhannisyan himself, but rather under external  pressure. He recalled that between April and June 2025, the rector  had sent numerous letters to the Center, instructing the deputy  director to oversee the organizational work for several summer  programs. 

"Even on the day before sending the notice of dismissal, you  continued to give instructions and sign documents related to various  programs. This hasty and clumsy process was a result of pressure from  representatives of your political force. You have diminished the  reputation and authority of the rector of YSU. I do not know what  leverage they have on you and how they plan to achieve their goals,  but remember: even if you follow all the instructions meticulously,  they will still come for you," Abajyan said. 

Yesterday it also became known that the rector of Yerevan State  University had dismissed Bishop Anushavan Zhamkochyan, the dean of  the faculty of theology. He participated in a rally in support of  Samvel Karapetyan, philanthropist and president of the Tashir Group  of Companies. Karapetyanr was detained in Yerevan on June 18 for  expressing support for the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has been  critisized by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.