In Armenia, a bitter dispute escalates between PM Pashinyan and the Church

A confrontation betwixt Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenia’s apical Christian clerics seems to beryllium deepening, polarising the profoundly spiritual South Caucasus federation of 3 million.

St Echmiadzin, the Armenian Apostolic Church’s headquarters, has been “taken implicit by the anti-Christian, immoral, antinational and antistate radical and has to beryllium liberated”, Pashinyan wrote connected Facebook connected Tuesday, adding: “I volition pb this liberation.”

The quality escalated precocious past month, with bells ringing tocsin implicit St Echmiadzin connected June 27.

Usually, the large and alarming dependable signals an lawsuit of significance, specified arsenic a overseas invasion.

But connected that parching-hot June day, the sound rang retired to awesome the detention of a apical cleric who, according to Pashinyan, was portion of a “criminal-oligarchic clergy” that was progressive successful “terrorism” and plotted a “coup”.

He said the “coup organisers” see the Church’s head, Karekin II, who has disputed with Pashinyan successful a months-long idiosyncratic feud.

But the struggle should not beryllium seen arsenic a confrontation betwixt secular authorities and the full Church, observers said.

“It’s a idiosyncratic clash,” Richard Giragosian of the Regional Studies Center deliberation vessel based successful the Armenian capital, Yerevan, told Al Jazeera.

In November 2020, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II led a memorial work to people Remembrance Day for the Armenian soldiers killed successful the warring implicit Nagorno-Karabakh, successful the apostolic Etchmiadzin Cathedral successful Vagharshapat, Armenia [File: Hayk Baghdasaryan/Photolure Handout via Reuters]

But immoderate Armenians inactive described the furore successful astir apocalyptic terms.

“We mislaid our statehood truthful galore times, truthful being portion of the Church was adjacent to being Armenian,” Narine Malikyan, a 37-year-old parent of 2 from Armenia’s second-largest metropolis of Guymri, told Al Jazeera. “Attacking the Church is similar attacking each Armenian.”

The Church, whose doctrine differs from that of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox sees, has for centuries helped support the individuality of Armenians portion their lands were ruled by Iranians, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, Turks and Russians.

‘The Karabakh clan’

The struggle betwixt Pashinyan and Karekin is rooted successful the 2020 warfare betwixt Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended a decades-old “frozen conflict”.

In the aboriginal 1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azeri enclave dominated by taste Armenians, broke distant successful a bloody warfare that uprooted up to a million.

Moscow-backed separatist leaders from Nagorno-Karabakh became portion of Armenia’s governmental elite and cultivated ties with the Church.

The alleged “Karabakh clan” spawned 2 presidents who ruled Armenia for 20 years but were accused of corruption, cronyism and pocketing donations from Armenian diasporas successful France, the United States and Russia.

In 2018, Pashinyan, an ex-lawmaker and fashionable publicist, led immense protests that toppled the “Karabakh clan”. He became premier curate with support ratings of much than 80 percent.

Some protesters backmost past flocked to St Echmiadzin to impulse Karekin to measurement down arsenic they lambasted his penchant for luxurious cars and lavish parties.

‘An illegitimate child’

Two years later, Armenia mislaid Nagorno-Karabakh successful a 44-day warfare that proved the superiority of drone attacks and hi-tech stratagems.

By 2023, Azerbaijan regained power of the full Dubai-sized territory, portion tens of thousands of its residents flocked to Armenia.

Karekin blamed Pashinyan for the defeat, adjacent though observers person argued that the work lies with his predecessors’s miscalculations.

Pashinyan struck back.

He claimed that 73-year-old Karekin – who was ordained successful 1970, studied theology successful Austria, Germany and Moscow and became the Church’s caput successful 1999, broke his vow of celibacy to begetter a kid – and should, therefore, vacate his seat.

“If Karekin II tries to denounce this fact, I’ll beryllium it successful each indispensable ways,” Pashinyan wrote connected Facebook connected June 9.

He did not specify the details, but Armenian media “discovered” that Karekin’s alleged girl is simply a aesculapian doc successful Yerevan.

Karekin did not respond to the assertion but accused Pashinyan of dividing Armenians.

“The anti-clerical run unleashed by authorities is simply a superior menace to our nationalist unity, home stableness and is simply a nonstop stroke to our statehood,” the grey-bearded clergyman, clad successful a ceremonial robe adorned with crosses, said connected June 22 astatine a ceremonial astatine St Echmiadzin.

A time later, a clergyman called Pashinyan “Judas” and claimed helium was circumcised.

Pashinyan retorted by offering to exposure himself to the clergyman and Karekin.

A failed detention

On June 27, dozens of quality officers interrupted a league successful 1 of St Echmiadzin’s tawny, centuries-old buildings to forcibly present different Pashinyan critic, Archbishop Mikael Adjapakhyan, to an interrogation.

But priests and parishioners summoned by the tocsin fought them disconnected – portion critics compared the incidental to the 1938 sidesplitting of Armenia’s apical cleric successful St Echmiadzin during the Soviet-era crackdown connected religion.

Hours later, Archbishop Adjapakhyan volunteered for an interrogation, telling supporters that helium “was being persecuted illegally”.

He was arrested for 2 months – on with 14 alleged “coup organisers,” including different archbishop, Bagrat Galstanyan, absorption lawmakers and “Karabakh clan” figures.

The coup was expected to instrumentality spot connected September 21, connected Armenia’s Independence Day, according to its program leaked to the Civic.am daily.

Also arrested was operation tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, who made his estimated $3.6bn luck successful Russia and owns Armenia’s main powerfulness company.

Karapetyan had threatened Pashinyan, saying if the struggle with Karekin is not solved, “we volition instrumentality portion successful it each successful our ain way.”

The arrests were “a determination by the Armenian authorities to preempt immoderate imaginable Russian interference successful the coming [parliamentary] elections that are acceptable for June 2026”, expert Giragosian said.

‘Pashinyan is hard to negociate with’

Those opposed to Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party person accused him of siding with Azerbaijan and Turkiye.

But Baku has its qualms astir Pashinyan.

“Pashinyan is by acold not a bid dove,” Emil Mustafayev, main exertion of the Minval Politika mag based successful the Azeri capital, Baku, told Al Jazeera. “He is hard to negociate with.”

However, aft the nonaccomplishment of Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan “began to instrumentality heed of Baku’s position”, Mustafayev said. “Of each imaginable options successful Yerevan, he’s the slightest problematic spouse 1 tin person a dialog with, nary substance however analyzable it is.”

Analyst Gigarosyan agreed.

“Pashinyan is the champion interlocutor [Baku and Ankara] could anticipation for due to the fact that of predictability and besides due to the fact that he’s looking to crook the page,” helium said. “He’s not looking for revenge.”

And adjacent though Pashinyan’s existent support ratings are good beneath 20 percent, his enactment whitethorn go a governmental phoenix and triumph the June 2026 vote.

Armenian absorption parties are either centred astir 2 erstwhile presidents from the “Karabakh clan” who are profoundly mistrusted, oregon are excessively tiny and splintered to signifier sizeable coalitions and power decision-making successful the unicameral, 107-seat parliament.

“They’re apt to win,” Giragosian said of Pashinyan’s party. “Not due to the fact that of a beardown grade of support, but due to the fact that the absorption is hated and feared more.”