Aliyev now has fewer doubts about Pashinyan’s ability to build a “new republic” that rejects national values, expert says

Nikol Pashinyan is preparing the Islamization of Armenia, Ainur Kurmanov, co-chair of Kazakhstan’s Socialist Movement, writes in an article published by Politnavigator.

According to the author, the local elections in Vagharshapat were marked by falsifications and the use of administrative resources, which allowed the ruling party to claim victory. These manipulative measures, he argues, enabled the authorities to avoid defeat.

Kurmanov also highlights divisions within the opposition as another factor contributing to Pashinyan’s success.

“All of this combined ensured the victory of the pro-Western forces at this critical moment, as Pashinyan intended to humiliate and expose the weakness of Catholicos Garegin II (whose seat is located in Vagharshapat) and the entire Armenian Apostolic Church. The entire plan is based on demoralizing the opposition after this defeat, while representatives of the government aim to completely crush the clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Yerevan through repression and the seizure of churches,” Kurmanov writes.

At the same time, neighboring Azerbaijan is celebrating this outcome, viewing it as the Church’s undeniable defeat — a sentiment reflected in Azerbaijani media.

As a result, Kurmanov notes, Aliyev now has fewer doubts about Pashinyan’s ability to build a “new republic” that rejects all former national values and symbols. Moreover, he argues that the ruling authorities now have a freer hand to organize a referendum on constitutional changes that would remove references to Artsakh, Mount Ararat, and the Armenian Genocide. Kurmanov claims that Pashinyan’s goal is not only to divide the Church, but to destroy it within Armenia itself.