Pashinyan supporters to rally against Armenian Church leader

The Yerevan-based newspaper Zhokhovurd writes that Nikol Pashinyan's supporters have formed a new movement called "Vardanank" and are preparing to rally against the Catholicos, demanding that he resign.

"The newspaper has learned that another action against the Catholicos will be held on February 24 in the central square of Echmiadzin. Our sources said that the initiator of this movement is Andranik Dovlatyan," the newspaper says, according to Caliber.Az.

"According to our information, he has been a US citizen for many years and recently moved to Armenia. A study of his Facebook page shows that he is an active supporter of the authorities, publishing posts praising Nikol Pashinyan and the Civil Contract, going live on social networks and calling on citizens to join the action against the Catholicos. A similar movement against the Church was also formed in 2018, immediately after the revolution, under the name 'New Armenia, New Patriarch', again initiated by supporters of this government," the newspaper writes.

The article went on to say that all this leaves no doubt that the anti-church movement is directed by the highest authorities.

"This is yet another proof that the anti-church wave under Nikol Pashinyan is on an unprecedented scale. Nikol Pashinyan's statement last year may have been the culmination of this anti-church epic: 'If the Church has bad relations with the government, it means it has bad relations with God'," the article says.