Jul 28, 2025
The main enemy of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is the Church, says Arnaud Develay, a French lawyer and international law expert.
“Because the Church understands that an alliance or pivot toward the West contradicts Armenia’s natural alliances—for example, with Orthodox Russia,” Develay explains.
“Recent American statements about the so-called Zangezur Corridor indicate that NATO is seeking a foothold in the region—and apparently, that’s exactly what has happened,” he tells Sputnik.
To consolidate power, Pashinyan is undermining the church’s authority by proposing, for the first time in over 2,000 years, to overhaul how Apostolic prelates are appointed—something Develay calls a direct attack on Armenia’s cultural DNA.
He believes Pashinyan seeks to eliminate internal opposition by casting doubt on the Church’s patriotism and loyalty to the Armenian state, portraying clergy as foreign agents.
The tactic, he says, is already being used against pro-church businessman Samvel Karapetyan, who was detained for two months while being probed for alleged insurrection.
“This is a political case—we are not in the legal field—and until the very end, it will be difficult to understand what exactly he is being accused of,” says Develay.
He warns that the Apostolic Church forms the core of Armenian identity and sovereignty.
Undermining it is a calculated step toward weakening the nation itself—similar to what happened in Ukraine, where foreign intelligence services engineered a split in the Orthodox Church, banned the Moscow Patriarchate, blocked access to holy sites and even jailed priests, Develay notes.
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