Peace Achieved at the Cost of Thousands of Lives Will Not Be Sacrificed for Anti-Christian Goals, Says Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that in March-April 2024, Armenia was on the brink of losing its statehood, and if the decision to begin the demarcation process with Azerbaijan had not been made in April 2024, Armenia would not be an independent state today, but rather a territory under external administration. He stated this during a speech at the European Parliament.

“Making that decision on demarcation in April 2024 was very difficult. Encouraged by our Church's de facto head, one of the archbishops started a movement in Armenia, demanding not only to halt the demarcation but also, in effect, to activate the Nagorno-Karabakh movement, implying a conflict,” said Pashinyan.

According to the Prime Minister, tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets, influenced by a disinformation campaign conducted by senior clergy and opposition forces, who claimed that the government was preparing to cede Armenia's sovereign territories, as well as the ancient churches and settlements located within them, to Azerbaijan.

“And how did we resolve the issue? We spoke with our 'employer' — the people. And now the village of Kiranц in the Tavush region, which the leaders of the church-opposition movement had made their symbol, convincing people that the village would be deserted and abandoned, has seen about a 50 percent increase in houses after the demarcation, supported by the government, and today it is an absolutely peaceful, safe, and colorful locality. Ancient churches are being restored or renovated,” he added, noting that he personally organizes visits and tours for groups of citizens to the village of Kiranц in the Tavush region to show them what is meant by 'peace' and 'Real Armenia.'

“This is also a symbol of peace because we have established peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan by recognizing each other's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence based on the December 21, 1991, Alma-Ata declaration, according to which Soviet Azerbaijan became independent Azerbaijan, and Soviet Armenia became independent Armenia, and this is the outline of the territory of independent Armenia. In this process, I would not address the involvement of certain clergy in the anti-peace campaign if I had not seen how those clergy's emissaries and representatives of certain lobbyist organizations connected with them are trying to spread in the European Parliament and other international esteemed organizations that the Armenian government restricts freedom of conscience, that a dictatorship is being established in Armenia, and that there are political prisoners in Armenia.

The reality is that some clergymen, who have cynically violated all the rules of spiritual ethics, have made themselves vulnerable to foreign intelligence services (by the way, the fact that some of them are agents of the USSR KGB is evidenced by documents), these clergy have taken on the leadership of the war party in Armenia, gathering around themselves the former leaders of Armenia, certain forces associated with them, some oligarchs residing in Russia and pro-Belarusian, and are trying to sacrifice Armenia's independence to the interests of third countries. We will not allow a new conflict, a new war. We will not allow the consciousness, peace, and independence achieved at the cost of thousands of lives to be sacrificed for anti-Christian goals.

In the text of our Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the word 'peace' is mentioned more than 40 times, and it is about not only human and soul peace but also global peace, for which there are dozens of petitions in our liturgical canonical text directed to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However, today some use the altar of Christ to preach conflict, war, and domestic violence, crossing the boundaries of the RA legislation. This cannot be tolerated in any democratic country,” said Pashinyan.