The actions of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan against the Armenian Apostolic Church are carried out on behalf of its foreign patrons, Secretary General of the Orthodox Union of the Middle East “Al-Mashreq” and head of the research center “Al-Arabi al-Mashreq” Ilyas El-Mor told RIA Novosti.
The Orthodox Union of the Middle East was created in 2024-2025 and unites the Orthodox communities of the Middle East countries.
The agency’s interlocutor called the actions of the Prime Minister of Armenia “a serious mistake” in relation to the Armenian Apostolic Church. According to him, this is a policy imposed by the West, aimed at systematically weakening the church, as has already happened in a number of Eastern European countries: Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. “Such a policy of Pashinyan may negatively affect the country’s economy, given that more than 60% of investments in Armenia are Russian. The recent arrest of influential businessman Samvel Karapetyan is part of an organized campaign against national values, where the main target is the Armenian Church,” El-Mor added.
The head of the Orthodox Union recalled that the confrontation between the Armenian authorities and the church began in 2018 with the rise to power of Pashinyan and his pro-Western course, far from the traditions of Armenian society and the clergy. The situation escalated after the second Karabakh war in 2020, when Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II sharply criticized Pashinyan and demanded his resignation. “At the moment, Armenia is experiencing a deep internal conflict between two directions: “One seeks to preserve the cultural, spiritual and historical heritage embodied in the church, and the other is pulling the country under the Western umbrella, turning it into an instrument against its own allies and neighbors,” the agency’s interlocutor emphasized.