I Made a Proposal to the Church at One Time: Nikol Pashinyan

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, announced that he had previously proposed that the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church undertake a joint project. He made this statement during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly when members of the 'Civil Contract' faction addressed developments surrounding the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Government faction member Taguhi Ghazaryan referred to the statement made by the Archbishop of Shirak, Mikael Ajapahyan. The cleric stated in an interview with '24news': 'You will return the Manuscript Library to the Mother See, its revenues will go to the Mother See, and you will tax that. Those plots of land... Do you know how many villages the church owned? Vagharshapat, Oshakan, Mukni, Mastara, Yegvard, with all their land areas. Compensate, you can't return them all now, can you? Tens of thousands of people are sitting on those lands, holding property certificates.'

The deputy noted that the Armenian Apostolic Church is demanding five villages and the Manuscript Library from the Armenian government. 'The church’s representative also demands the return of the territories belonging to the church, compensation for the damages incurred, and only then can we talk about taxing the church,' Ghazaryan added.

In response, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the church periodically raises similar issues in other countries, but he did not believe such treatment would be directed towards Armenia. 'I know that there were and still are such claims against Turkey by the Armenian Apostolic Church. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same logic is applied concerning Armenia. This is a telling fact. I once proposed that the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church create a joint project; today, hundreds of historical and cultural monuments are collapsing, and I suggested that we jointly restore them. However, for some reason, this topic has not been of interest to the church,' the Prime Minister concluded.

In his opinion, there is a fundamental reason for this: both the Armenian government and the church's investments should have been transparent and accountable, which has resulted in the church not executing this proposal.