Armenia's Pashinyan renews calls for resignation of Catholicos Garegin II

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has once again publicly demanded the immediate resignation of Catholicos Garegin II, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in a recent Facebook post.

Pashinyan referenced past events, recalling that in 2020-2021, Garegin II (whose secular name is Ktrich Nersisyan) openly called for the resignation of Armenia’s government authorities, Caliber.Az reports.

Following these calls, Armenia held early parliamentary elections which were widely recognised by the international community as free, democratic, and competitive.

Pashinyan emphasised that the election results represented not only a vote of confidence in the ruling team but also a rejection of those occupying the Holy See. He argued that this political mandate implicitly included a vote of no confidence toward Catholicos Garegin II.

Further, Pashinyan pointed to a recent gathering in June 2025, where the bells of the Mother See rang to summon clergy and citizens. However, attendance reportedly did not exceed 1,500 people. For the prime minister, this low turnout serves as another strong reason for Garegin II to vacate his position immediately.

“There is no other way,” Pashinyan concluded in his statement.

This demand follows a months-long feud between Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), Catholicos Garegin II, marked by allegations of moral misconduct, arrests of clergy, and accusations of a coup plot. This conflict has intensified Armenia’s domestic crisis and raised concerns about state interference in religious affairs.

The dispute began after Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Second Karabakh War, which triggered widespread protests. Garegin II called for Pashinyan’s resignation in December 2020, citing national instability. The tension escalated further following Armenia’s return of four border villages to Azerbaijan in May 2024, leading to protests led by the AAC and opposition figures such as Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, head of the “Holy Struggle” movement, demanding Pashinyan’s resignation and accusing his government of betraying national interests.

In response, the Armenian government has conducted over 90 searches, detaining at least 14 individuals, including senior clerics and opposition activists, on charges of terrorism and plotting a coup. Pashinyan has publicly accused the AAC, particularly Garegin II, of corruption and moral violations, including breaching celibacy vows, and has called for his resignation.

By Khagan Isayev