Armenia's PM Nikol Pashinyan Engages in Controversial Showdown with Church Leaders

Armenia's ongoing political crisis deepens as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan faces backlash from the Armenian Apostolic Church, leading to sensational allegations and mass arrests.

Armenia is currently engulfed in a fierce standoff between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church, marked by mass arrests, allegations of coup attempts, and a shocking personal offer from Pashinyan. In an extraordinary statement, Pashinyan expressed his willingness to expose his private parts to prove his Christian faith, addressing accusations from a local priest in the town of Masis, who had likened the prime minister to Judas for supposedly being circumcised.

Pashinyan's words sent ripples through social media platforms, where he has amassed a following of over 1.1 million users, leveraging the medium to communicate since his rise to power during Armenia's Velvet Revolution in 2018. With pivotal elections on the horizon, the Armenian Apostolic Church has emerged as a significant adversary of his government, especially following Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 conflict with Azerbaijan.

The Church's internal conflict ignited in late May when Pashinyan accused Catholicos Karekin II, the Church's leader, of breaching his vow of celibacy and fathering a child. This led to demands for his resignation, culminating in a statement from the Church that accused Pashinyan of jeopardizing Armenia's "spiritual unity," without addressing the allegations regarding Karekin II's personal life.

The situation deteriorated further when Armenian security forces detained 16 individuals, including notable archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, linked to the opposition Sacred Struggle movement, amid charges of plotting acts of terrorism. The government alleged they were planning to construct paramilitary groups to facilitate a coup, a claim that has been dismissed as "political persecution" by Galstanyan’s legal representatives.

Compounding the crisis, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, a prominent Church benefactor, was detained after expressing support for the Church, with charges of calling for a power seize leveled against him. In response to his arrest, Prime Minister Pashinyan indicated intentions to nationalize Karapetyan's Electric Networks of Armenia, inciting further political instability.

As tensions escalate, the Russian government is reportedly monitoring the unfolding situation, with promises to safeguard Karapetyan's legal rights, adding another layer of complexity to Armenia's fraught political landscape.