The conflict between Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan and Armenian top Christian clergy is deepening and appears to polarize the deeply religious South Caucasian state of 3 million.
Saint Ekmiazin, the headquarters of the Armenian Apostle Church, “mutual, rebellious, anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-groups, must be handed over and released,” Pashinyan wrote on Facebook Tuesday, adding that he “leads this release.”
The conflict escalated later last month, spurting a toksine on St. Ekmiazin on June 27th.
Usually loud and surprising sounds indicate important events, such as foreign invasions.
However, on that sheepskin hot June day, a noise was heard stating the detention of a top clergy who was involved in “terrorism” and was part of the “detective Oliganky clergy” who plotted a “coup.”
He said the “coup organizers” included the head of the church, King Calekin II.
However, conflict should not be seen as a conflict between secular authorities and the whole church, observers said.
“It’s a personal conflict,” Regional Studies Richard Giragosian told Al Jazeera to Yerevan, a think tank with a think tank based in the Armenian capital.
However, some Armenians still described the turmoil in almost apocalyptic terms.
“We lost the nation many times, so being part of the church was on par with being Armenian,” Narin Marikian, the 37-year-old mother of two in Armenia’s second largest city of Gimli, told Al Jazeera. “Attacking the church is like attacking all Armenians.”
Unlike the churches seen by Roman Catholics and Orthodox people, the churches maintained Armenian identity for centuries, and their lands were ruled by Iranians, Byzantine, Arabs, Mongols, Turks and Russians.
“Karabakh clan”
The conflict between Pashinyan and Kalekin is rooted in the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which ended the “frozen conflict” decades ago.
In the early 1990s, Nagorno Karabakh, an enclave of Azeri in the mountainous region ruled by ethnic Armenians, was broken in a bloody war that had uprooted a million.
The Moscow-backed separatist leader from Nagorno-Karabakh became part of Armenia’s political elite and developed a relationship with the church.
The so-called “Karabakhklan” ruled Armenia for 20 years, but produced two presidents accused of corruption, chronism and pocket donations from the Armenian diaspora of France, the US and Russia.
In 2018, Pashinyan, a former craftsman and popular public relations officer, led a huge protest that defeated the “Karabakh clan.” He became prime minister with a rating of over 80%.
Some protesters of the time flocked to St. Ekmiazin and urged Kalekin to resign as they began to prefer luxurious cars and luxurious parties.
“Illegal Children”
Two years later, Armenia lost Nagorno Karabakh in a 44-day war, proving the advantages of drone attacks and high-tech hierarchies.
By 2023, Azerbaijan had regained control of the entire Dubai-sized territory, with tens of thousands of inhabitants flocking to Armenia.
Kalekin blames Pashinyan for his defeat, despite the fact that the observer claims it was a miscalculation of his predecessor.
Pashinyan fought back.
He claimed that Kalekin, 73, appointed in 1970, studied theology in Austria, Germany and Moscow, became the head of the church in 1999, and that he should leave his seat open as he broke the vow of singleness to the father of his child.
“If Karekin II tried to condemn this fact, I will prove it in every way,” Pashinyan wrote on Facebook on June 9th.
He did not specify details, but Armenian media “discovered” that Kalekin’s suspected daughter was a doctor in Yerevan.
Kalekin did not respond to the claim, but Pashinyan accused the Armenians of splitting them up.
“The anti-cleric campaign, unleashed by the authorities, is a serious threat to our nation’s unity, domestic stability, and a direct blow to our nation,” the Graybearded clergy, dressed in ritual robes decorated with crosses, said at a ceremony at St. Ekmiazin on June 22.
A day later, the priest called Pashinyan “Judas” and claimed he had been circumcised.
Pashinyan rebutted, offering to expose himself to the priest and Kalekin.
Failed detention
On June 27, dozens of intelligence agents suspended the meeting to forcefully rescue Aide Michael, another Pashinyan critic, in one of the tanned and centuries-old buildings in St. Ekmiazin.
However, the priests and parishioners summoned by Tokshin fought against them. Meanwhile, critics compared the incident with the murder of a top Armenian clergy in St. Ekmiazin in 1938 during Soviet-era crackdown on religion.
Hours later, the archbishop’s aide volunteered to interrogate, informing his supporters that he was “became to be “illegally persecuted.”
He was arrested for two months. He was arrested along with another archbishop, Bagrat Garstanyan, an opposition lawmaker and 14 “coup organizers” including figures from the “Karabakh clan.”
The coup was supposed to take place on Armenia’s Independence Day on September 21, according to plans leaked to civic.am.
Also arrested was the construction giant Saint Verkalapitian.
Karapetian threatened Pashinyan and said, “We will take part in everything in our own way” if the dispute with Karekin is not resolved.
The arrest was “a move by the Armenian government to preempt the possibility of Russian interference coming. [parliamentary] “The election is set for June 2026, according to analyst Jiragosian.”
“Pashinyan is difficult to negotiate.”
Those who opposed Pashinyan’s civil contract party accused him of siding with Azerbaijan and Torkiye.
However, Baku has concerns about Pashinyan.
“Pashinyan is not a pigeon of peace,” Emil Mustafayev, editor of Minbar Politica magazine, based in the capital of Azeri, told Al Jazeera. “He’s difficult to negotiate.”
However, after the loss of Nagorno Karabakh, Pashinyan “began to listen to Bak’s position,” Mustafayev said. “Of all Yerevan options, he is the most problematic partner who can interact with, no matter how complicated it is.”
Analyst Gigarosyan agreed.
“Pashinyan is the best interlocutor [Baku and Ankara] We could expect to see it for predictability and because he wanted to turn the page,” he said. “He’s not looking for revenge.”
Also, Pashinyan’s current approval rate is well below 20%, but his party may become a political Phoenix and win the June 2026 vote.
The Armenian opposition is either centered around two former presidents of the deep distrust of the Karabakh clan, or too small and divided, forming a considerable coalition and does not affect decision-making in the 10th seat parliament.
“They’re likely to win,” Jiragosian said of Pashinyan’s party. “Not because of a strong degree of support, but because the opposition is hated and feared.”
