Pashinyan Wanted to Appoint His 'Heart's Catholicos' and Has Started a Campaign Against the Church, Garnik Danielyan

Garnik Danielyan, a member of the National Assembly from the 'Armenia' bloc, announced during a parliamentary briefing that the authorities aim to interfere in the affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church and control spiritual institutions.

“Months ago, I stated that after appointing their loyal people in the Central Electoral Commission, federations, and various organizations, the next step would be the church. Nikol Pashinyan had a strong desire to appoint his 'heart's catholicos',” said the MP.

According to Danielyan, the objective of the authorities is to establish control over institutions that regularly provided evaluations of their actions. “There are claims that the church has been 'chulanes' (interfered with), meaning there has been a clear direction from the authorities,” he added.

The MP also reminded that in the past, the Prime Minister himself stated that the state should not interfere in the church's affairs. “What happened that led him to begin meddling in church matters, and not only that, but to go further and aim towards splitting the church, turning it into a separate sect?” Danielyan concluded.