Latest news with #Pashinyan


Roya News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Roya News
Armenia moves to arrest senior archbishop over coup allegations
Tensions between Armenia's government and the Armenian Apostolic Church escalated dramatically on Friday after security forces attempted to arrest Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan outside the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the spiritual center of Armenian Christianity. According to local news outlets, clashes broke out between security personnel and a crowd of supporters gathered at the church's headquarters near the capital, Yerevan, as officers moved to detain the archbishop over accusations of conspiring to overthrow the government. Video footage circulating on Armenian media showed pushing and shouting outside the church compound. Security forces eventually withdrew, and Archbishop Ajapahyan reportedly agreed to meet with investigators to address the allegations. A court is expected to decide soon whether he will be formally placed in detention. The incident follows the arrest earlier this week of another high-ranking cleric, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, along with 13 others, on charges of plotting a coup. Both Galstanyan and Ajapahyan deny any wrongdoing. In a strongly worded statement, the Armenian Apostolic Church condemned Friday's confrontation, declaring, 'This day will remain in the modern history of our people as a day of national shame because of the shameful actions of Armenian authorities against the Armenian Church.' Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is facing growing political pressure ahead of next year's elections, accused the clergy of attempting to undermine the state. 'The authorities have thwarted a large and sinister plan by the 'criminal-oligarchic clergy' to take power in Armenia,' he said earlier this week. The clash marks a dramatic escalation in a long-simmering dispute between the secular government and elements of the church. Several senior clerics have previously demanded Pashinyan's resignation, particularly after Armenia's defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018 following a popular uprising against Armenia's old guard, has seen his popularity decline in the aftermath of the war and Azerbaijan's full takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. Many in Armenia view the loss of the region, where ethnic Armenians had lived with de facto autonomy for decades, as a national humiliation.

Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Armenia order to arrest senior priest over alleged coup plot triggers scuffles
A new order to arrest a senior clergyman over allegations of plotting to overthrow the government triggered scuffles outside the most celebrated church in Armenia on Friday, according to Armenian news reports. Video posted on Armenian news sites showed security forces jostling with a crowd outside the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church near Yerevan, the capital, as they tried to detain Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan. The officers withdrew from the area outside the cathedral in Etchmiadzin, and the reports said the archbishop agreed to discuss the allegations with representatives of the Armenian Investigative Committee. A court was to rule on whether to keep Ajapahyan in detention. The unrest erupted two days after another prominent cleric, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, was detained, the latest stage in an increasingly acrimonious confrontation pitting the church against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government. Galstanyan faces charges, along with 13 others, of plotting to overthrow the government. Both clergymen deny any wrongdoing. The Armenian church denounced the street confrontation, saying the day "will remain in the modern history of our people as a day of national shame because of the shameful actions of Armenian authorities against the Armenian church". Pashinyan, who faces an election next year, said this week that the authorities had thwarted a "large and sinister plan by the 'criminal-oligarchic clergy'" to take power in Armenia, a former Soviet republic in the South Caucasus. Some senior clerics have previously called for Pashinyan to step down over Armenia's military defeats against Azerbaijan after decades of hostilities. Pashinyan rose to power on a wave of street protests in 2018, but came under heavy domestic pressure after major losses in a second major conflict with Azerbaijan in 2020. In 2023, Azerbaijan retook the whole of the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians had enjoyed de facto independence for decades. Tensions between the two neighbours remain high and the number of reported ceasefire violations has surged this year. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

20 hours ago
- Politics
Canadian cleric arrested in Armenia in connection to alleged coup attempt
A prominent Canadian cleric of the Armenian Apostolic Church is among more than a dozen people Armenia's security services have arrested in connection to an alleged coup attempt this week. Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who heads the Tavush Diocese in Armenia's northeast, grabbed national attention last year in the Southern Caucasus country when he began leading a protest movement asking for the resignation of its prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and even saying he would be open to replacing him as Armenia's leader. That movement picked up steam following land concessions made by Armenia to neighbouring Azerbaijan that involved the handover of Armenian border villages. Galstanyan, a dual Canadian and Armenian citizen, served as primate of the Armenian Diocese of Canada in Montreal from 2003 to 2013. Pashinyan praised the work of law enforcement on his Facebook page, writing in Armenian that they prevented a large and despicable plan to destabilize his government through acts of terrorism and seize power. He also linked to a statement by Armenia's Investigative Committee, which had carried out the arrests. The committee said it had seized explosives and weaponry, and accused Galstanyan's protest movement of planning to conduct bombings and stage accidents on major roads to disrupt traffic. Galstanyan's movement has denied the charges, calling them fiction. Reached for comment, Global Affairs Canada said it is aware that a Canadian citizen was arrested in Armenia, and added consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather more information. Mélanie Joly, at the time Canada's foreign affairs minister, helped open the Canadian embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2023. (Fin DePencier/CBC ) Photo: (Fin DePencier/CBC ) The arrests come after escalating tensions between the Armenian government and the country's Apostolic Church, which has been increasingly critical of Pashinyan after Armenia's loss to Azerbaijan in a 2020 war over the then Armenian-controlled enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan's military campaign in September 2023 that forced the territory's approximately 120,000 ethnic Armenians to flee, abandoning their homes. Last month, Pashinyan accused the head of the church, Catholicos Karekin II, of secretly fathering a child despite a vow of celibacy. An Armenian priest then implied in a social media post Pashinyan is circumcised and not a true Christian. Earlier this week, Pashinyan took to Facebook to say he is ready to invite both the catholicos and the priest over and prove otherwise. Citing confidentiality, Global Affairs Canada said it cannot disclose further information about its involvement since Galstanyan's arrest. The Canadian government inaugurated its embassy in Armenia in October 2023, and has recently staffed up its presence there due to the conflict between neighbouring Iran and Israel, which has triggered an exodus from the Iran-Armenia border, including some Canadians. In November 2022, Galstanyan attended the opening of a smaller Canadian diplomatic office, an honourary consul (new window) , as a guest. In 2020, in the final days of the war against Azerbaijan, Galstanyan made waves on social media with a performance of an Armenian liturgical hymn at a cathedral in the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Shushi, even as bombs could be heard landing outside the structure. Former immigration minister Jason Kenney had shared the video on his social media channels at the time, calling Galstanyan a dear friend and saying it was touching to see. Raffy Boudjikanian (new window) · CBC News


Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Crowds block Armenian security forces from arresting a clergyman who has criticized the government
Security forces faced off with crowds Friday at the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church as the government sought to arrest a clergyman in the latest move against outspoken critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The tense confrontation in Etchmiadzin outside the capital of Yerevan ended with security forces withdrawing from the site without arresting Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan to avoid escalating the situation, Armenia's National Security Service said. The NSS asked him to turn himself in, and it was not immediately clear if he did so. Images on social media showed clergymen in black robes who had rushed to the scene jostling with police as members of the NSS stood by. Bells of a nearby cathedral in the complex–known as the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and home to church leader Catholicos Karekin II–rang out. Pashinyan was the focus of protests last year by tens of thousands of demonstrators after Armenia agreed to hand over control of several border villages to Azerbaijan and to normalize relations between the neighbors and bitter rivals. On Wednesday, authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who leads the Sacred Struggle opposition movement, accusing him of plotting to overthrow the government. Armenia's Investigative Committee alleged he was planning to carry out a sabotage campaign–charges that his lawyer described as 'fiction.' Members of Sacred Struggle accused the government of cracking down on their political rights. Another vocal critic of Pashinyan, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, was arrested last week after being accused of calling for the government's overthrow, which he denied. The NSS said in a statement that citizens should refrain from escalating the situation and not hinder law enforcement agencies in the execution of their duties. It also urged Ajapahyan to not hide from law enforcement agencies and to appear before authorities. Government prosecutors accuse Ajapahyan of calling for the ouster of the government in an interview on February 3, 2024, according to his lawyer, Ara Zohrabyan. Ajapahyan initially said he would accompany police but ultimately did not enter the awaiting car. 'I have never hidden and I am not going to hide now,' Ajapahyan said. '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.' Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in territorial disputes since the early 1990s as various parts of the Soviet Union pressed for independence from Moscow. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, ethnic Armenian separatist forces backed by the Armenian military won control of Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh and nearby territories. In 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured broad swaths of territory that were held for nearly three decades by Armenian forces. A lightning military campaign in September 2023 saw Azerbaijan fully reclaim control of Karabakh, and Armenia later handed over the border villages. Pashinyan has recently sought to normalize relations with Azerbaijan. Last week, he also visited Azerbaijan's top ally, Turkey, to mend a historic rift. Turkey and Armenia also have a more than century-old dispute over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations, and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. Historians widely view the event as genocide. Turkey vehemently rejects the label, conceding that many died in that era but insisting the death toll is inflated and resulted from civil unrest. Attempts to impeach Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018, were unsuccessful. Although territorial concessions were a core issue for Sacred Struggle, it has expanded to a wide array of complaints about Pashinyan as the Apostolic Church's relationship with the government deteriorated. On June 8, Pashinyan called for Karekin II to resign after accusing him of fathering a child despite a vow of celibacy. The church released a statement at the time accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia's spiritual unity but did not address the claim about the child.


Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Crowds block Armenian security forces from arresting a clergyman who has criticized the government
YEREVAN, Armenia — Security forces faced off with crowds Friday at the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church as the government sought to arrest a clergyman in the latest move against outspoken critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The tense confrontation in Etchmiadzin, outside the capital of Yerevan, ended with security forces withdrawing from the site without arresting Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan to avoid escalating the situation, Armenia's National Security Service said. The NSS asked him to turn himself it, and it was not immediately clear if he did so. Images on social media showed clergymen in black robes who had rushed to the scene jostling with police as members of the NSS stood by. Bells of a nearby cathedral in the complex, known as the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and home to church leader Catholicos Karekin II, rang out. Pashinyan was the focus of protests last year by tens of thousands of demonstrators after Armenia agreed to hand over control of several border villages to Azerbaijan and to normalize relations between the neighbors and bitter rivals. On Wednesday, authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who leads the Sacred Struggle opposition movement, accusing him of plotting to overthrow the government. Armenia's Investigative Committee alleged he was planning to carry out a sabotage campaign — charges that his lawyer described as 'fiction.' Members of Sacred Struggle accused the government of cracking down on their political rights. Another vocal critic of Pashinyan, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, was arrested last week after being accused of calling for the government's overthrow that he denied. The NSS said in a statement that citizens should 'refrain from escalating the situation and not to hinder law enforcement agencies in the execution of their duties.' It also urged Ajapahyan to not hide from law enforcement agencies and to appear before authorities. Government prosecutors accuse Ajapahyan of calling for the ouster of the government in an interview on Feb. 3, 2024, according to his lawyer, Ara Zohrabyan. Ajapahyan initially said he would accompany police, but ultimately did not enter the awaiting car. 'I have never hidden and I am not going to hide now,' Ajapahyan said. '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.' Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in territorial disputes since the early 1990s, as various parts of the Soviet Union pressed for independence from Moscow. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, ethnic Armenian separatist forces backed by the Armenian military won control of Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh and nearby territories. In 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured broad swaths of territory that were held for nearly three decades by Armenian forces. A lightning military campaign in September 2023 saw Azerbaijan fully reclaim control of Karabakh, and Armenia later handed over the border villages. Pashinyan has recently sought to normalize relations with Azerbaijan. Last week, he also visited Azerbaijan's top ally, Turkey, to mend a historic rift. Turkey and Armenia also have a more than century-old dispute over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. Historians widely view the event as genocide. Turkey vehemently rejects the label, conceding that many died in that era but insisting the death toll is inflated and resulted from civil unrest. Attempts to impeach Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018, were unsuccessful. Although territorial concessions were a core issue for Sacred Struggle, it has expanded to a wide array of complaints about Pashinyan as the Apostolic Church's relationship with the government deteriorated. On June 8, Pashinyan called for Karekin II to resign after accusing him of fathering a child despite a vow of celibacy. The church released a statement at the time accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia's 'spiritual unity' but did not address the claim about the child. Demourian writes for the Associated Press.