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A confrontation between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church has intensified with recent developments involving high-ranking church officials. On June 25, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan was arrested by Armenia's security forces. He is accused, along with 13 others, of planning to overthrow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government through attacks on critical infrastructure. These allegations have been denied by his legal representative, Sergei Harutyunyan.
Archbishop Galstanyan is a prominent figure in the Sacred Struggle opposition movement, which has organized large protests against various policies of Prime Minister Pashinyan, including territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.
In a related incident on June 27, crowds intervened to prevent authorities from detaining Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan at the residence of the Armenian Catholicos in Echmiadzin. Ajapahyan faces accusations of advocating for the government's removal in early 2024. His attorney, Ara Zohrabyan, represents him in this matter. The archbishop commented on the situation saying, “I have never hidden and I am not going to hide now. I say that what is happening now is lawlessness. I have never been and am not a threat to this country; the main threat is in the government.”
The standoff saw authorities retreating while urging non-escalation from supporters and asking Ajapahyan to turn himself in.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Pashinyan called for Catholicos Karekin II's resignation over alleged personal misconduct. The Armenian Apostolic Church responded by accusing Pashinyan of undermining national spiritual unity but did not address his specific claim against Karekin II.
Additionally, Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan was detained on June 18 after criticizing governmental actions against the church in a social media post. This led to efforts by Pashinyan's administration to take control of Karapetyan’s energy enterprise.
Armenia holds historical significance as the first nation to officially embrace Christianity in 301 A.D., having been evangelized earlier by apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region remains a contentious area with historical conflicts between Christian Armenians and Turkic Azeris dating back centuries. It became part of Soviet Azerbaijan post-World War I but declared independence alongside Armenia following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991.
Concerns about Azerbaijani blockades echo past atrocities such as those during the Armenian Genocide (1915-1916), when up to 1.2 million Armenians were killed under Ottoman rule—a tragedy that informed Raphael Lemkin’s concept of "genocide."
Gina Christian reports for OSV News and can be followed on X @GinaJesseReina
