Armenian police clashed with priests on Friday as they attempted to raid the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church, escalating a bitter power struggle between the Church and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government.
The confrontation unfolded at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual centre of the Armenian Church, where masked officers sought to arrest Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan. Authorities accuse him of inciting a violent coup against Pashinyan, a charge the archbishop has called “a blatant act of lawlessness.”
“I have never been a threat to our country. The real threat sits in government,” Adjapahyan said before voluntarily appearing at the Investigative Committee headquarters, where he expected to be arrested.
The raid followed the earlier arrest of another senior church figure accused of plotting to overthrow the government. The crackdown marks a dramatic escalation in the standoff between Pashinyan and Church leader Catholicos Garegin II, who has demanded the prime minister’s resignation since Armenia’s 2020 defeat in the war with Azerbaijan.
Tensions have intensified since the 2023 surrender of the disputed Karabakh region to Azerbaijan. The feud has turned personal: Pashinyan has accused Garegin II of fathering an illegitimate child, while church figures questioned the prime minister’s faith, implying he is not Christian. In response, Pashinyan publicly offered to display his genitals to disprove the rumour.
Despite the turmoil, Pashinyan retains control of the government thanks to his parliamentary majority and a divided opposition.
