Pashinyan takes revenge on Armenian Church for his fears, says Moskovsky Komsomolets

Judging by its actions, Armenia’s current leadership is trying to fabricate a large-scale “conspiracy” case alleging an attempt to overthrow the government — with the goal of implicating some of the most respected clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Moskovsky Komsomolets reports.

This “weak link,” according to the defense of the detainees, is Aram Asatryan, a priest of the Diocese of Aragatsotn. In an interview with Public TV on Sept. 16, he stated that the head of the diocese forced him and other priests to participate in opposition protests in 2021.

The newspaper recalls that the 2020–2021 protests in Armenia, known as the “March of Dignity,” began after the signing of the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement on Nov․ 10, 2020. Thousands of people took to the streets of Yerevan demanding Pashinyan’s resignation, and protesters attempted to storm parliament. Demonstrations were also held in other cities across Armenia.

The leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church — including Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia — likewise called for Pashinyan’s resignation. On Feb. 25, 2021, former Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan and more than 40 senior military officers issued the same demand, which Pashinyan described as an attempted coup. On March 18, 2021, he announced snap parliamentary elections, which he ultimately won.

“However, before those elections, his power was hanging by a thread. Pashinyan has neither forgotten nor forgiven his fear — and now he is taking revenge on the Church, seeking to destroy and subjugate this most important institution of Armenian society,” the publication writes.