In Armenia, a bitter dispute escalates between PM Pashinyan and the church
St Echmiadzin, the Armenian Apostolic Church's headquarters, has been 'taken over by the anti-Christian, immoral, antinational and antistate group and has to be liberated', Pashinyan wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, adding: 'I will lead this liberation.'
The dispute escalated late last month, with bells ringing tocsin over St Echmiadzin on June 27.
Usually, the loud and alarming sound signals an event of significance, such as a foreign invasion.
But on that parching-hot June day, the noise rang out to signal the detention of a top cleric who, according to Pashinyan, was part of a 'criminal-oligarchic clergy' that was involved in 'terrorism' and plotted a 'coup'.
He said the 'coup organisers' include the Church's head, Karekin II, who has disputed with Pashinyan in a months-long personal feud.
But the conflict should not be seen as a confrontation between secular authorities and the entire Church, observers said.
'It's a personal clash,' Richard Giragosian of the Regional Studies Center think tank based in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, told Al Jazeera.
But some Armenians still described the furore in almost apocalyptic terms.
'We lost our statehood so many times, so being part of the Church was equal to being Armenian,' Narine Malikyan, a 37-year-old mother of two from Armenia's second-largest city of Guymri, told Al Jazeera. 'Attacking the Church is like attacking every Armenian.'
The Church, whose doctrine differs from that of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox sees, has for centuries helped maintain the identity of Armenians while their lands were ruled by Iranians, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, Turks and Russians.
'The Karabakh clan'
The conflict between Pashinyan and Karekin is rooted in the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended a decades-old 'frozen conflict'.
In the early 1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azeri enclave dominated by ethnic Armenians, broke away in a bloody war that uprooted up to a million.
Moscow-backed separatist leaders from Nagorno-Karabakh became part of Armenia's political elite and cultivated ties with the Church.
The so-called 'Karabakh clan' spawned two presidents who ruled Armenia for 20 years but were accused of corruption, cronyism and pocketing donations from Armenian diasporas in France, the United States and Russia.
In 2018, Pashinyan, an ex-lawmaker and popular publicist, led huge protests that toppled the 'Karabakh clan'. He became prime minister with approval ratings of more than 80 percent.
Some protesters back then flocked to St Echmiadzin to urge Karekin to step down as they lambasted his penchant for luxurious cars and lavish parties.
'An illegitimate child'
Two years later, Armenia lost Nagorno-Karabakh in a 44-day war that proved the superiority of drone attacks and hi-tech stratagems.
By 2023, Azerbaijan regained control of the entire Dubai-sized territory, while tens of thousands of its residents flocked to Armenia.
Karekin blamed Pashinyan for the defeat, even though observers have argued that the responsibility lies with his predecessors's miscalculations.
Pashinyan struck back.
He claimed that 73-year-old Karekin – who was ordained in 1970, studied theology in Austria, Germany and Moscow and became the Church's head in 1999, broke his vow of celibacy to father a child – and should, therefore, vacate his seat.
'If Karekin II tries to denounce this fact, I'll prove it in all necessary ways,' Pashinyan wrote on Facebook on June 9.
He did not specify the details, but Armenian media 'discovered' that Karekin's alleged daughter is a medical doctor in Yerevan.
Karekin did not respond to the claim but accused Pashinyan of dividing Armenians.
'The anti-clerical campaign unleashed by authorities is a serious threat to our national unity, domestic stability and is a direct blow to our statehood,' the grey-bearded clergyman, clad in a ceremonial robe adorned with crosses, said on June 22 at a ceremony at St Echmiadzin.
A day later, a priest called Pashinyan 'Judas' and claimed he was circumcised.
Pashinyan retorted by offering to expose himself to the priest and Karekin.
A failed detention
On June 27, dozens of intelligence officers interrupted a conference in one of St Echmiadzin's tawny, centuries-old buildings to forcibly deliver another Pashinyan critic, Archbishop Mikael Adjapakhyan, to an interrogation.
But priests and parishioners summoned by the tocsin fought them off – while critics compared the incident to the 1938 killing of Armenia's top cleric in St Echmiadzin during the Soviet-era crackdown on religion.
Hours later, Archbishop Adjapakhyan volunteered for an interrogation, telling supporters that he 'was being persecuted illegally'.
He was arrested for two months – along with 14 alleged 'coup organisers,' including another archbishop, Bagrat Galstanyan, opposition lawmakers and 'Karabakh clan' figures.
The coup was supposed to take place on September 21, on Armenia's Independence Day, according to its plan leaked to the Civic.am daily.
Also arrested was construction tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, who made his estimated $3.6bn fortune in Russia and owns Armenia's main power company.
Karapetyan had threatened Pashinyan, saying if the conflict with Karekin is not solved, 'we will take part in it all in our own way.'
The arrests were 'a move by the Armenian government to preempt any potential Russian interference in the coming [parliamentary] elections that are set for June 2026', analyst Giragosyan said.
'Pashinyan is hard to negotiate with'
Those opposed to Pashinyan's Civil Contract Party have accused him of siding with Azerbaijan and Turkiye.
But Baku has its qualms about Pashinyan.
'Pashinyan is by far not a peace dove,' Emil Mustafayev, chief editor of the Minval Politika magazine based in the Azeri capital, Baku, told Al Jazeera. 'He is hard to negotiate with.'
However, after the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan 'began to take heed of Baku's position', Mustafayev said. 'Of all possible options in Yerevan, he's the least problematic partner one can have a dialogue with, no matter how complicated it is.'
Analyst Gigarosyan agreed.
'Pashinyan is the best interlocutor [Baku and Ankara] could hope for because of predictability and also because he's looking to turn the page,' he said. 'He's not looking for revenge.'
And even though Pashinyan's current approval ratings are well below 20 percent, his party may become a political phoenix and win the June 2026 vote.
Armenian opposition parties are either centred around two former presidents from the 'Karabakh clan' who are deeply mistrusted, or are too small and splintered to form sizeable coalitions and influence decision-making in the unicameral, 107-seat parliament.
'They're likely to win,' Giragosyan said of Pashinyan's party. 'Not because of a strong degree of support, but because the opposition is hated and feared more.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump to host Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders for peace talks: Report
United States President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for peace talks at the White House, a US official said. The official told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that there is a possibility a framework for a peace agreement could be announced at Friday's meeting in Washington, DC. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, for peace talks last month, but no breakthrough in the decades-old conflict was announced. The two South Caucasus countries have been in conflict with each other since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. The region, which was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, had a mostly ethnic Armenian population at the time. Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia. Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of 'erasing all traces' of the presence of ethnic Armenians in the contested territory, in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The case stems from the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, which left more than 6,600 people dead, one of three full-scale wars that the two countries have fought over the region. The United Nations's top court has ordered Azerbaijan to allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh to return. Azerbaijan says it is committed to ensuring all residents' safety and security, regardless of national or ethnic origin, and that it has not forced ethnic Armenians, who are mostly Christian, to leave the Karabakh region. Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory, too, and has accused the Armenians of driving out Azeris who lived near the region in the 1990s. The meeting in Abu Dhabi last month between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev came after the two countries finalised a draft peace deal in March. The two leaders 'agreed to continue bilateral negotiations and confidence-building measures between the two countries', but no more concrete steps were outlined in the final statement from the talks. Ceasefire violations along the heavily militarised 1,000km (620-mile) shared Armenia-Azerbaijan border surged soon after the draft deal was announced in March, but later diminished.
Al Jazeera
10-07-2025
- Al Jazeera
The South Caucasus is slipping from Russia's grasp
The recent flare-up between Russia and Azerbaijan is far more than a diplomatic spat: It marks a potential turning point in the balance of power in the South Caucasus. On June 27, Russian special forces conducted a violent raid on ethnic Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, an industrial city in Russia's Ural region. About 50 people were detained, several were reportedly injured, and two Azerbaijani brothers – Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov – died in custody under suspicious circumstances. Autopsies revealed blunt-force trauma and broken ribs, contradicting Russian claims that the men died of heart failure. Survivors reported beatings, electrocution, and degrading treatment. Far from being seen as a routine law enforcement action, the operation has been widely interpreted in Baku as a politically motivated act of intimidation – prompting sharp condemnation from Azerbaijani officials and a wave of anger from the public. On July 1, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Russia, Rahman Mustafayev, delivered a formal protest to Moscow, denouncing what he described as the unlawful killing and mistreatment of Azerbaijani citizens, including dual nationals. This diplomatic fallout unfolded just as Baku launched its own high-profile crackdown on organised crime – one that notably included the arrest of several Russian nationals, some reportedly linked to Kremlin-funded media outlets and others accused of cyberfraud and drug trafficking. Among those detained were local staff of Sputnik Azerbaijan, the state-run Russian news agency. While the two episodes are officially unrelated, the timing suggests Azerbaijan is signalling a rejection of external coercion and asserting its sovereignty with new intensity. These developments reflect a deeper geopolitical shift. Russia's traditional levers of influence in the post-Soviet space – military alliances such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), energy dependency, and soft power through Russian-language media – are weakening. Strained by the war in Ukraine and international sanctions, the Kremlin has increasingly turned to diaspora policing, symbolic shows of strength, and nationalist rhetoric to maintain control. The Yekaterinburg raid appears to fit this pattern: A demonstration of power aimed at a former Soviet republic now carving out a more independent path. Azerbaijan's traditionally balanced foreign policy is now entering a more assertive phase. For years, Baku carefully navigated its relations with Russia, the West, and Turkiye. But the events of the past week have marked a clear shift: Azerbaijan is adopting a firmer stance against Kremlin pressure while deepening its strategic alignment with Ankara. This evolving alliance is not only strengthening bilateral ties but fostering broader regional integration through organisations such as the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). The implications extend well beyond Azerbaijan. Moscow's deteriorating relationship with Baku may trigger a wider realignment across Central Asia. Kazakhstan has already taken steps to distance itself from Russian influence, while Armenia, under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has publicly questioned the reliability of Russian security guarantees. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are simultaneously strengthening ties with Turkiye and China. In this context, Azerbaijan's defiance signals not an isolated dispute, but a broader erosion of Moscow's soft power across the former Soviet sphere. For the Kremlin, traditional diplomatic tools are proving increasingly ineffective. In Azerbaijan, public outrage over the deaths in Yekaterinburg is helping shape foreign policy in ways that go beyond formal statecraft. Moscow now faces the real prospect of Baku firmly embedding itself in the Turkish geopolitical orbit – supporting projects such as the Zangezur corridor, and reinforcing a trans-Caspian Turkic axis stretching from Anatolia to Central Asia. This vision stands in stark contrast to the Kremlin's fading Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) project, which now looks more like a symbolic construct than a meaningful alliance. Meanwhile, the media landscape has become another battleground. Russian state outlets – particularly firebrand figures like Vladimir Solovyov – have adopted openly anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric, stoking ethnic and religious tensions. These attacks blur the line between journalism and state propaganda, further inflaming bilateral tensions and undermining traditional diplomatic protocols. Yet, amid the escalating tensions, Azerbaijan faces a rare strategic opportunity. If managed wisely, Baku can leverage this moment to strengthen its leadership role within the Turkic world and reset its relationship with Russia on more equal terms. In the years ahead, Azerbaijan has the potential to emerge not just as a key energy hub, but as a central geopolitical actor in the South Caucasus and beyond. The Yekaterinburg raid is not simply a matter of domestic policing. It is a symptom of the accelerating breakdown of Moscow's grip over its 'near abroad'. What happens next – whether Russia adapts to the changing dynamics or attempts to reassert control through more coercive means – will shape the next chapter of Eurasian geopolitics. One thing is already clear: The regional balance of power is shifting, and Azerbaijan stands squarely at the centre of that transformation. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Al Jazeera
10-07-2025
- Al Jazeera
Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders meet for peace talks in UAE
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks in the United Arab Emirates after nearly four decades of conflict. The meeting in Abu Dhabi on Thursday between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, confirmed by both their governments, comes after the two countries finalised a draft peace deal in March. The South Caucasus countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Peace talks began after Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh in a lightning offensive in September 2023, prompting a huge exodus of almost all of the territory's 100,000 Armenians, who fled to Armenia. But the timeline for sealing a deal remains uncertain. Ceasefire violations along the heavily militarised 1,000km (620-mile) shared border surged soon after the draft deal was announced, though there have been no reported violations recently. In a potential stumbling block to a deal, Azerbaijan has said it wants Armenia to change its constitution, which it says makes implicit claims to Azerbaijani territory. Yerevan denies this, but Pashinyan has repeatedly stressed in recent months – most recently this week – that the South Caucasus country's founding charter needs to be updated. Azerbaijan also asked for a transport corridor through Armenia, linking the bulk of its territory to Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani enclave that borders Baku's ally, Turkiye. Pashinyan and Aliyev's last encounter was in May, on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania. In June, Pashinyan made a rare visit to Istanbul to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a meeting Armenia described as a 'historic' step towards regional peace. This week, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbours. The outbreak of hostilities between the two countries in the late 1980s prompted mass expulsions of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Azeris from Armenia, and Armenians, who are majority Christian, from Azerbaijan.
