YEREVAN, June 27. /TASS/. A scuffle broke out between representatives of the Armenian clergy, believers and Armenian law enforcement officers on the territory of the residence of the Catholicos of All Armenians in Vagharshapat, also known as Etchmiadzin. Armenian National Security Service officers arrived on the territory of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to detain Shirak Diocese head Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian for allegedly making public calls to overthrow the constitutional order. Believers did not allow Armenian law enforcement officials to detain him and take him away.
TASS has compiled the main information about the situation.
Reasons for the scuffle
– On June 26, the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case against Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian, accusing him of publicly calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order.
– On the morning of June 27, law enforcement officials arrived at the Mother See of Etchmiadzin to detain Ajapahian.
– This angered the clergy and believers, who tried to stop the officers.
– The archbishop approached the law enforcement officers accompanied by his lawyer Ara Zohrabyan and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. However, the believers did not allow Ajapahian to be taken away.
– A scuffle ensued between law enforcement officials and believers.
– Ajapahian returned to the territory of Holy Etchmiadzin.
– Numerous police officers, special forces, and Armenian National Security Service agents have been deployed to the area surrounding the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, with more forces continuing to arrive.
– Ajapakhyan told reporters at the Mother See of Echmiadzin that he would accompany the law enforcement officers who had come to arrest him.
– The Armenian opposition is calling on its supporters to gather in Echmiadzin to prevent law enforcement officials from detaining clerics, Dashnaktsutyun party leader Ishkhan Saghatelyan said in a statement.
– The National Security Service is sending new forces from Yerevan to Echmiadzin to detain the archbishop, the Armenian opposition reported.
Relations between Pashinyan, clergy escalate
– Relations between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the country’s clergy have deteriorated in recent years, particularly since the Mother See of Etchmiadzin (the church’s governing body) called for his resignation in 2020 and criticized his policy on Nagorno-Karabakh.
– On May 30, Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan published several posts on their social media accounts with derogatory remarks against representatives of the Armenian Church.
– On June 24, Pashinyan posted material from the pro-government Civic.am portal on his Telegram channel. The material contained information about an allegedly planned “seizure of power” and called the plan “a coup attempt of scoundrels.”
– On the morning of June 25, Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced that Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the Holy Struggle opposition movement, and his associates were planning terrorist acts to seize power.
– On the same day, law enforcement officials detained several opposition and clergy representatives, including Galstanyan.
– A court in Armenia arrested 15 people at the request of the Investigative Committee on charges of preparing terrorist acts and seizing power. Some of those arrested were members of the Holy Struggle opposition movement and other opposition groups.
– Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the Holy Struggle opposition movement, was arrested by the court for two months.