An aide to Poghosian, Armine Avagian, gave no reason for the move.
Avagian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Poghosian will continue to perform his duties until the Armenian government appoints a new governor of the mountainous region bordering Iran and Azerbaijan.
Poghosian’s resignation was announced as the Armenian side essentially completed its withdrawal from districts around Nagorno-Karabakh in line with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the Karabakh war on November 10.
Syunik borders three of those districts: Lachin, Kubatli and Zangelan. Some Syunik border sections became new Armenian-Azerbaijani frontlines as Azerbaijani troops reached and advanced through those districts in October. They shelled several Syunik villages, killing and wounding several local residents.
Poghosian signaled his intention to resign in a statement issued on November 16. “But at the moment our priority is to strengthen our borders and make them impregnable,” he said.
Poghosian, 56, is a retired police general who was appointed as Syunik governor in October 2018 six months after the “Velvet Revolution” that brought Nikol Pashinian to power. He served as first deputy chief of the Armenian police until the Pashinian-led mass protests that toppled the country’s former government.