Armenian finance minister defends PM Pashinyan’s social media remarks on clergy “Let’s Close This Topic”

Armenian Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan has defended Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's right to express himself on social media, including recent posts addressing members of the clergy.

Hovhannisyan made the remarks during a press briefing on June 4, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media outlets.

"Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan is free to post whatever he deems necessary on his social media accounts," the minister stated.

Responding to questions about Pashinyan’s controversial remarks directed at the Armenian Church, Hovhannisyan said he was not surprised by the posts and emphasised that spiritual leaders should be held to specific standards.

“If certain individuals have assumed spiritual leadership, they must adhere to specific established standards,” he noted.

While stressing that this issue is not part of his day-to-day responsibilities, Hovhannisyan said he felt compelled to address it since it had become a matter of public interest.

"Let’s close this topic," he concluded, signalling a desire to end further discussion on the matter.

To recall, during a cabinet meeting on May 29, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, his wife Anna Hakobyan, and other members of the ruling Civil Contract party accused clergymen of breaking their vow of celibacy, as well as paedophilia, according to Armenian news sources. Pashinyan claimed that Armenian churches had been turned into “storerooms”, where people could see “extra tiles, a sack of cement”, and even “rusty scraps of rebar”, though he did not specify where he had personally seen such conditions, the sources added.

A day after Pashinyan’s remarks, his Deputy Chief of Staff, Taron Chakhoyan, posted photos on Facebook to support the Prime Minister’s claims. The images were taken at the 7th-century Saint Gayane Church, located near the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Vagharshapat, and they showed items such as plastic bottles, brooms, buckets, sacks, and other non-religious objects.

After facing criticism from church members, the opposition, and other critics over his remarks, Pashinyan responded with a series of social media posts starting on May 30 morning, in which he accused members of the clergy of various forms of misconduct.

By Khagan Isayev