YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Armenian President Robert Kocharian signed a decree November 28 appointing Ara Papian Armenia’s extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Canada with residence in Ottawa.
Ara Papian was born in Yerevan in 1961. He graduated from the Department of Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University. Papian continued his education at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian foreign ministry–and at the NATO military-diplomatic academy in Rome.
In the early 1980s Ara Papian worked as a military interpreter in Afghanistan and from 1989 to 1991 he lectured at the Melkonian School in Cyprus.
In 1992 Ara Papian began his diplomatic career as second secretary of the Armenian foreign ministry’s US and Canada division followed by second secretary of the Iranian division. From 1992-1993 he was assigned to the Armenian embassy in Iran.
Papian was the head of the Iranian division at the Armenian foreign ministry from 1994 to 1995. After serving as charge d’affairs in Romania in 1997–he became the head of the foreign ministry’s security cooperation division.
From 1999 until his new appointment Papian worked as a spokesman for the ministry. He is fluent in Russian–English–Farsi–and Greek. Ara Papian is married and is father to two sons.