Armenian media regulator criticizes church channel over political content

Tigran Akopyan, chairman of Armenia’s National Commission for Television and Radio, has voiced his disagreement with the proposal to remove the church channel Shoghakat from the public broadcasting multiplex, while stressing that the channel has failed to meet its legal obligations.

“The author of the proposal knows well that not only I, but other commission members, do not fully agree with it. A far more effective and appropriate solution could have been found,” Akopyan said during a briefing, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

He explained that under the 2020 legislation, Shoghakat is classified as a cultural-educational channel, not a spiritual-cultural one. Religious and spiritual programming, he noted, should not be aired on a cultural-educational channel, as such content often bears little relation to education or culture.

Despite this legal distinction, Akopyan said Armenian society largely overlooked the difference, and the channel failed to realign its programming following the law’s adoption.

“If Shoghakat had adhered to its mission and the obligations set forth by legislation, this situation would not have arisen. On a religious channel, one cannot simultaneously speak of God’s mission and broadcast political content. This could not continue indefinitely, and viewers noticed it,” he emphasized.

The National Assembly of Armenia has taken a decisive step by approving in its first reading a legislative proposal to terminate the operations of the Armenian Church’s television channel, Shoghakat.

The bill received the backing of 63 MPs, while 31 lawmakers voted against it.

The proposed amendments to the Law on Audiovisual Media aim to reduce the number of public broadcasters mandated under the current legislation to just two. Simultaneously, the bill seeks to remove the existing obligation for broadcasters to air educational and cultural programming. According to the explanatory note accompanying the proposal, the legislation is specifically intended to discontinue Shoghakat—a channel established by the Armenian Church—and remove it from the public broadcasting multiplex.

The bill was introduced by Sisak Gabrielyan and Tagui Kazaryan, members of the ruling Civil Contract party.

By Vafa Guliyeva