Neither Tsolakian nor his spokesperson Anna Baghdasarian gave a reason for the move.
Tsolakian hinted at his resignation earlier in the day when he met with a large group of Ministry for Emergency Situations employees who returned to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh where they took part in the six-week war with Azerbaijan.
Tsolakian, 68, is the second minister to leave Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government since a Russian-mediated agreement stopped the war on November 10.
Pashinian announced on Monday that he has decided to sack Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian. The latter insisted, however, that he himself tendered his resignation. But he too gave no reason.
Earlier on Monday, an Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman publicly contradicted Pashinian’s comments regarding Shushi (Shusha), Karabakh’s second largest city captured by Azerbaijani forces during the war.
The terms of the Karabakh truce brokered by Moscow sparked street protests in Yerevan, with Armenian opposition groups accusing Pashinian’s government of capitulating to Azerbaijan and demanding his resignation. Pashinian and his political allies reject the opposition demands.