Alen Simonyan

Alen Simonyan
Alen Simonyan
Ալեն Սիմոնյան
	Official portrait, 2022
President of the National Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 2 August 2021
President	Armen Sarkissian; Vahagn Khachaturyan
Preceded by	Ararat Mirzoyan
Acting President of Armenia
	In office; 1 February 2022 – 13 March 2022
Prime Minister	Nikol Pashinyan
Preceded by	Armen Sarkissian
Succeeded by	Vahagn Khachaturyan
Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia
	In office; 15 January 2019 – 2 August 2021 Serving with Lena Nazaryan and Vahe Enfiajyan
President	Ararat Mirzoyan
Preceded by	Eduard Sharmazanov; Arpine Hovhannisyan; Mikayel Melkumyan
Member of the National Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 16 May 2018
Member of the Yerevan City Council
	In office; 2017–2018
Personal details
Born	Alen Roberti Simonyan; 5 January 1980 (age 44); Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Civil Contract
Spouse	Mariam Margaryan
Children	3
Education	Yerevan State University
Military service
Allegiance	Armenia
Branch/service	Armenian Ground Forces
Years of service	2000–2002

Alen Roberti Simonyan (Armenian: Ալեն Ռոբերտի Սիմոնյան; born 5 January 1980) is an Armenian politician currently serving as the president of the National Assembly of Armenia since 2 August 2021. He served as the acting president of Armenia from 1 February 2022 to 13 March 2022, and is a former member of Yerevan City Council.

Career

Simonyan studied at the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University, graduating in 2000. He would go on to serve two years in the Armed Forces of Armenia, before becoming Assistant to the Chairman of the Court of the First Instance of Ajapnyak and Davitashen Communities. From 2003 to 2004, he worked as a human resources manager at Converse Bank.^[1]

From 2006 to 2007, Simonyan worked at a radio station. He then cooperated with television companies TV5, Yerkir Media, and Armenia TV for the next five years, directing and producing a number of musical and political video clips. In 2012, he became Editor-in-Chief of "Ararat" magazine before founding Ararat Media Group LLC (araratnews.am web site and "Ararat" magazine).^[1]

Simonyan was one of a number of organizers of the "Car free" civil protest against the rise in prices for transportation.

On 30 May 2015, he was elected member of the Civil Contract party board, becoming a spokesperson for the party. He was re-elected on 30 October 2016.

From 2017 to 2018, Simonyan was a member of the Yerevan City Council in the composition of Way Out Alliance. On 16 May 2018, he was elected Member of the National Assembly by the national electoral list of the Way Out Alliance. Later that year, on 9 December 2018, he was elected member of the National Assembly by the national electoral list of the My Step Alliance.^[1]

On 15 January 2019, he was elected vice president of the National Assembly, then president of the National Assembly on 2 August 2021. After the resignation of President Armen Sarkissian on 1 February 2022, Simonyan assumed the powers and duties of president of Armenia as acting president.^[2]

On 27 June 2024, Simonyan confirmed that Armenia's leadership wants the country to join the EU and that it will hold a referendum in the near future. Simonyan stated "Our society has made a decision to be part of the European Union" and "I think that sometime in the near future we will have this referendum and I am sure that our people will say yes".^[3]

Personal life

Simonyan is married to Mariam Margaryan and has three children.^[1]^[4]^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "National Assembly of Armenia | Official Web Site | parliament.am". parliament.am. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
^ "BREAKING: Why Armenian president Armen Sarkissian resigns? (VIDEO)". News.am. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
^ Armenian Speaker Sees Referendum On EU Membership
^ "Yerkir.am: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan to hand over power". News.am. 24 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Free News website, owned by National Assembly deputy speaker Alen Simonyan's wife Mariam Margaryan, had won the right to broadcast in Yerevan in a telecommunication license competition this year, writes Yerkir.am of Armenia.
^ Sarukhanyan, Vahe (3 November 2021). "Armenian Parliament Speaker and Friends Party on Mykonos: Who Footed the Bill?". Hetq. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Simonyan told Hetq that he had not been on vacation before leaving for Vienna, but on September 6, he posted a photo from Greece with his wife, Mariam Margaryan, on his Instagram page, writing, "Three years later, three days off."

Political offices
Preceded by Ararat Mirzoyan	President of the National Assembly of Armenia 2021–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Armen Sarkissian	President of Armenia Acting 2022	Succeeded by Vahagn Khachaturyan

[:0-1] "National Assembly of Armenia | Official Web Site | parliament.am". parliament.am. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2022.

[2] "BREAKING: Why Armenian president Armen Sarkissian resigns? (VIDEO)". News.am. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.

[3] Armenian Speaker Sees Referendum On EU Membership

[4] "Yerkir.am: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan to hand over power". News.am. 24 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Free News website, owned by National Assembly deputy speaker Alen Simonyan's wife Mariam Margaryan, had won the right to broadcast in Yerevan in a telecommunication license competition this year, writes Yerkir.am of Armenia.

[5] Sarukhanyan, Vahe (3 November 2021). "Armenian Parliament Speaker and Friends Party on Mykonos: Who Footed the Bill?". Hetq. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Simonyan told Hetq that he had not been on vacation before leaving for Vienna, but on September 6, he posted a photo from Greece with his wife, Mariam Margaryan, on his Instagram page, writing, "Three years later, three days off."

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