Armenia's Pashinyan slams Catholicos over defence of arrested clerics

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has once again taken to Facebook with a sharply worded statement in response to Catholicos of All Armenians Ktrich Nersisyan’s (Garegin II) remarks regarding the arrest of Vazgen Galstanyan and Gevorg Ajapahyan.

“If Ktrich Nersisyan considers the arrest of Galstanyan and Ajapahyan unlawful, it means he shares their ideology and plans — to carry out a military coup, execute people at the walls, and sow chaos in the country,” Pashinyan wrote, Caliber.Az reports.

The head of the Armenian government added that “in this context, no territory of the enlarged Vagharshapat community (an administrative unit that includes Etchmiadzin and nearby villages – Ed.) can be off-limits to law enforcement activities.”

He also noted: “Especially since, thanks to Ktrich and some other individuals, these territories have long not been off-limits to adultery.”

The Armenian Apostolic Church has been at odds with Pashinyan since Armenia’s 2020 defeat in the 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 over a dozen 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