UK monitors situation around Armenian Apostolic Church amid tensions with government

Tensions between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church have attracted international attention. The British government has said it is “monitoring the situation” where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is in a long-running conflict with the church. The government accuses the clergy of calling for the violent overthrow of the government, while critics say the state is attempting to subjugate religious institutions. Christian Today reports.

Prime Minister Pashinyan has previously stated the government’s intention to “take control of the Church” to create a “real, pure, state-centered Church.” Opponents of this policy point out that such actions could violate the Armenian Constitution and recall Soviet-era tactics.

The Armenian government, for its part, claims that leading figures in the Church have not only expressed dissent, but have also called for the violent overthrow of the elected government and the assassination of statesmen.

At a recent Council of Europe meeting, British MP Sir Edward Leigh questioned Armenia’s actions before Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. Sir Edward accused Pashinyan of trying to create a church “which is forbidden to express dissent against the state….. to do this he has arrested a third of Armenia’s bishops.” He wondered how this could be anything other than “a violation of the democratic rights to freedom of religion and freedom of speech that the Council of Europe is supposed to uphold?”

In response, Mirzoyan stated his “total disagreement with some qualifications,” noting that “the information is not entirely correct” and “there is no persecution of clerics in Armenia.” He acknowledged that “some Armenian citizens call for the violent removal of the democratically elected government from power through coups d’état and …. publicly call for the assassination of some of Armenia’s leaders – including me, by the way,” adding that “there are indeed clerics in Armenia who have done this.”

In parallel, Human Rights Watch published a report on Armenia pointing to “serious human rights concerns” in the country, including restrictions on media freedom, lack of judicial independence and ineffective measures to investigate police abuses.

The news that the UK is paying attention to the situation in Armenia was welcomed by lawyers representing Samvel Karapetyan, a billionaire and Church supporter who has been detained and some of his assets nationalized. Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners said, “It is good news that the UK government is paying attention to the shocking suppression of religious freedom in Armenia.” He also emphasized: “However, it can and should do more to remind the Armenian authorities of their international obligations and the consequences that will come if Prime Minister Pashinyan continues down this path.”

As a reminder, earlier international lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who defends the interests of the Armenian Apostolic Church, noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan openly admits that he is taking over the Church because its representatives do not blindly support his government.