Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accused the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church of attempting to actualize the Karabakh movement.
"Recently, while attending a liturgy, I heard 'Artsakh Republic' being mentioned. What does this mean? This means nothing but a call to war. Ktrich Nersisyan (the secular name of Garegin II) and other religious figures have assumed the role of leaders of the war party," he noted.
Pashinyan also thanked Ilham Aliyev in his speech at the European Parliament.
Following Pashinyan's speech, a campaign against him was launched by opposing forces. Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, also joined this campaign.
In a statement to Modern.az, Deputy Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations, Sahib Aliyev, stated that Pashinyan's remarks regarding the church and his thanks to Ilham Aliyev naturally did not please politicians affiliated with Russia:
"What Nikol Pashinyan said during his speech at the European Parliament on March 11, his revelation of the essence of the Armenian church, his thanks to Mr. Ilham Aliyev, his repetition of these ideas in the subsequent briefing, and his statement in a live "Facebook" connection on March 13 that the text of Armenia's Declaration of Independence was built on a "logic of conflict," and that the claim regarding Karabakh in that document was, in fact, aimed at the destruction of their statehood and posed a great risk to their sovereignty, naturally did not please politicians affiliated with Russia in his country. Among them, the most enraged, it seems, is Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. And this is not without reason. After 1998, if one can put it that way, "put to rest," and immediately after the Second Karabakh War, considered fit for use, Ter-Petrosyan re-established communication with the circles he was connected to, or rather, they restored him. This restoration took place on November 12, 2020. After a meeting held on that very day with Russia's ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopırkin, this old Nazi and war criminal, in fact, attacked Pashinyan, who was his protégé, accusing him of treason.
For some reason, since then, the party leader Sergey Kopırkin has met and consulted with most in Armenia is again the same Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The number of their meetings merely leaked to the press has already exceeded five. However, it is highly probable that their communication is continuous, and last week's fifth congress of the Armenian National Congress Party, led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, as well as his "Facebook" status after the congress, somehow confirm this. It is understood that Moscow, seeing the complete marginalization of the "Karabakh clan," the exposure of Catholicos Garegin, and his "shortcomings," wants to turn Levon Ter-Petrosyan into the central, or more precisely, the unifying figure of its game".
According to S. Aliyev, L.T. Petrosyan does not hide his intention to mobilize the electorate around Samvel Karapetyan in the status he shared:
"In the aforementioned status, Levon Ter-Petrosyan does not hide that his goal is to mobilize the dissatisfied electorate around Samvel Karapetyan, who was sent to Armenia with the intention of overthrowing Nikol Pashinyan, or at least keeping him under control if overthrow is not possible. Look what Ter-Petrosyan writes: he states that Armenia's natural allies, with the exception of France, are not "distant Western countries," but Russia, Georgia, and Iran.
You probably noticed the order? This is the same Levon Ter-Petrosyan who said during the First Karabakh War that Iran was the state that provided them with the most assistance. Now he lists Iran's name third among Armenia's natural allies. The reason is probably clear. As is why Russia is in the first place here. But what is unclear is Armenia's first president considering Georgia their second natural ally. It is interesting, on what basis does he make such a claim? On what Kopırkin whispered in his ear?
Has the Georgian people forgotten how the Bagramyan battalion, created by Armenians in Abkhazia during Levon Ter-Petrosyan's leadership of Armenia, fought against them, the atrocities they committed, and the separatist attempts in Javakheti? I am sure they have not forgotten".
