Born in Kapan, Armenia, in 1964, Tatoul Markarian earned his undergraduate and PhD degrees from the Yerevan University of National Economy, a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

 

Markarian served in Armenia’s legislative and executive branches before joining the Foreign Service. He was Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Armenian Parliament from 1990 to 1991, and Assistant and then Adviser to the Vice President of Armenia from 1991 to 1994. He also served as Acting Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992.

 

Markarian was Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor of the Armenian Embassy in Washington from 1994 to 1999. From 1999 to 2000, he was Adviser to the Foreign Minister in Armenia. From 2002 to 2003, he was Special Representative of the President of Armenia for Nagorno Karabakh negotiations, and the Armenian coordinator for the U.S.-Armenia Strategic and NATO-Armenia Political-Military Dialogues. Before his appointment as Ambassador, Markarian was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (since 2000).