Grandfather Vardan was born in the village of Bartzruni near Vayk. In 1937 his father Hambartzum Khachatryan was labeled an "enemy of the people" and executed by a firing squad at the Yerevan prison. In 1942, sixteen-year-old Vardan joined the army.
The Law on Mass Media, much criticized by journalists, was rejected by the old parliament last spring, but was passed in its first reading, following a loud discussion, by the newly convened parliament on September 24, 2003.