Church and State again clash ahead of Armenia elections

In Armenia, a full-blown political and ideological war is underway between the post-revolutionary leadership and a deep-rooted religious establishment, expressed by the two leading figures: Prime Minister Pashinyan and Karekin II, head of the centuries-old Armenian Apostolic Church

Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan was last week placed in two-month pre-trial detention for allegedly calling for the overthrow of the Armenian government. The perceived threat was made when he openly took the side of the Armenian Catholicos, Karekin II, currently embroiled in another confrontation with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The National Security Service had initially attempted to detain Karapetyan in a nighttime raid, which failed and is said to have cost the agency head his job. The next day, Pashinyan also stripped Karapetyan of control over the country's electricity distribution network, ENA, that he acquired from Russia’s Inter RAO in 2015.

Though the government later appeared to walk back its threat to nationalise ENA, amid concerns that its seizures alarm investors, the message was clear. In pre-election year, nobody is off-limits. It also marked another turning point in what has now become a full-blown political and ideological war between Armenia’s post-revolutionary leadership and an entrenched religious establishment. At the centre is Karekin II, head of the centuries-old Armenian Apostolic Church, long considered a pillar of national identity but now clearly viewed by Pashinyan as an obstacle to plans to normalise relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The latest clash started with a string of public attacks from Pashinyan posted on social media, accusing the Catholicos of violating his vow of celibacy and fathering a child – an allegation from over at least a decade ago, but now resurrected in more acrimonious terms. His wife, Anna Hakobyan, even compared the clergy to pedophiles. While Karekin II has not publicly denied the charges, his supporters say the attacks violate the Armenian criminal code. With parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026, the timing is also seen by many as political, especially after church involvement in opposition protests in 2022 and 2024.

Just days before Pashinyan’s posts, Karekin II was in Switzerland, where he took part in a conference on Armenian cultural heritage in Karabakh, an issue Pashinyan has been careful to avoid at this juncture. Hakobyan specifically insulted the church for participating in the event, now more likely to obstruct a possible peace deal than contribute to one. The government had already signalled that doing so now would carry with it significant national security concerns.

Meanwhile, the Catholicos’ brother, Archbishop Yezras Nersessyan – head of the Russian Diocese, with known ties to pro-Russian militant groups – flew in from Moscow in a public show of support for Karapetyan who had also paid much of a $4 million bail to free Pashinyan's arch foe, former president Robert Kocharyan in 2020. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated it is closely watching events in Yerevan.

Pashinyan’s government accuses the Armenian Church of violating the constitutional separation of church and state by opposing the fragile peace process with Azerbaijan and meddling in domestic politics. Critics say Pashinyan is violating the same principle by seeking to oust Karekin II through a newly proposed mechanism that would prepare the ground for replacing him.

Karekin II, born Ktrij Nersessyan, was elected in 1999 under then-President Robert Kocharyan amid claims of political manipulation. Indeed, since Pashinyan’s 2018 Velvet Revolution, the Church has remained one of the few surviving institutions of an ostensibly pro-Russian regime launched by Kocharyan and continued by his successor, Serzh Sargsyan. It is no wonder that Russian officials, media, and even pop stars have spoken out in support of Karapetyan who made his money there.

Pashinyan has made it clear that eradicating the legacy of Kocharyan and Sargsyan is central to his vision of a new Armenia. That includes taking on the business clans remaining loyal to them and the Church, whose leaders, he believes, embody the same nationalist politics that derailed past efforts at peace in the past.

On Friday, dozens of supporters of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF-D) – a nationalist group aligned with Kocharyan and the Church – were also detained. Among them were followers of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the hardline cleric who led protests against Pashinyan last year with Karekin II’s approval.

The ideological fault lines are now clear – a vision of Armenia grounded in nationalism and post-Soviet elite network versus Pashinyan’s promise to integrate regionally after many decades of semi-isolation. Key to this will be signing a peace deal with Azerbaijan. With the 2026 elections drawing closer, this confrontation could prove a final reckoning between Armenia’s past and future.

What began as a political skirmish between Pashinyan and a defiant clergy is now a full-scale struggle over Armenia and national identity in the post-Karabakh era. With powerful interests involved from Moscow through the Church to the Oligarchs, it seems clear the battle is now underway.

As this article was about to be published today, the Armenian National Security Service announced that Archbishop Galstanyan and members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) parliamentary opposition were detained and their property searched. "The participants and leaders of the 'Holy Struggle' movement planned to carry out terrorist acts and actions aimed at seizing power in the Republic of Armenia," a statement read. A day earlier, a pro-Pashinyan website released what it claimed to be a leaked 7-page plan to stage a coup.