Church and the revanchists unite against Pashinyan - who will lead the Armenians to a new turmoil?

In recent weeks, serious processes have begun to take shape in Armenia. Perhaps, since April 2018, the Armenian society has not faced such an important choice. The moment of truth is approaching. This is the one on which the future of Armenia will depend, and the neighbors should not miss it.

Nikol Pashinyan's confrontation with Etchmiadzin is approaching its most crucial stage. Expectations that the problems would settle down by themselves, that tensions would subside, that the Prime Minister would step back, were not justified. The conflict is deepening and escalating.

The day before, hundreds of Armenians gathered at Zvartnots airport to meet Catholicos Garegin, who was returning from a trip to the UAE. The crowd was waiting for their idol with impatience and with the desire to show him their fervent support in his confrontation with the "antichrist" in the person of Nikol Pashinyan.

Garegin II, Ktrich Nersesyan, probably felt like a pop star after seeing so many fans and cameras. He held a mass prayer, called for unity and expressed confidence that the church would overcome all difficulties. Commenting on Pashinyan's calls for the election of a new Catholicos, Ktrich Nersesyan stated that "issues concerning the church and clergy should be discussed by the relevant authorities." That is, it's not for the Prime Minister to stick his nose in them. Armenian bloggers point out that the Catholicos did not respond to the main accusation against him of violating his vow of celibacy. It's like he never existed.

Recall that from the very beginning of his rule, Nikol Pashinyan went on the warpath with Etchmiadzin. His call "new Armenia - new Catholicos" still rings in the ears of Armenian churchmen. Then Pashinyan failed to bring down Ktrich. He kicked at the door, but realized that not many people would come out against the leadership of the church with him. And he retreated. What is he counting on now? Now the Prime Minister's position is even weaker than in previous years, because the revanchist forces and the Karabakh separatists who have invaded the country are uniting. With the support of external forces, the revanchist opposition hopes to deal with the prime minister, and his conflict with the church came in handy.

Yesterday, Pashinyan called on social networks to create a coordination group for the election of a new Catholicos. The Prime Minister defined the criteria for membership in this group and announced that he would personally select candidates. It has not yet been announced whether anyone wants to sign up. However, there are doubts that the people will rush to the call of the Prime Minister. Not because the people love Ktrich Nersesyan so much, but because they are afraid to show solidarity. Going against the church is a serious risk. And it's not known how it will end. The Armenian Apostolic Church is an impregnable fortress, a stronghold, the foundation of the Armenian identity, and every Armenian is more or less tied to its misanthropic postulates.

So far, Ktrich Nersesyan does not seem to feel particularly threatened. All this talk about the re-election of the Catholicos is just propaganda, since the church has its own laws and rules, and the secular authorities do not order it. It is she who dictates the ideology, politics, and rules of life of the Armenians. If Pashinyan starts pushing too hard, Ktrich will call on his fans, who will be happy to stand up for him. And Pashinyan's supporters, who are disproportionately more numerous in Armenia, will stay at home, afraid to come out against the church. This is what Etchmiadzin does the calculation for. Ktrich is so confident in himself because he knows that few Armenians would dare to raise their voices against the holy of holies.

But Pashinyan has something to worry about. His conflict with the AAC created a situation in which the revanchists had a reason to blind the protest mass. The Armenian society did not want to rise on separatist and revanchist slogans. But there may be enough people willing to unite around the figure of the Catholicos. And the opposition is trying very hard these days.

The Dashnaks have already expressed their support for Etchmiadzin. Dashnaktsutyun has issued a statement stating that "the targeted campaign of the political leadership to belittle the role of the Church and attacks on it serve the interests of the enemy and weaken the collective immunity of the Armenian people." The Dashnaks promised to protect the church by all means available to them.

Serzh Sargsyan also came out of hibernation. He told reporters that he would support the Catholicos and follow his "precepts." Sargsyan's words are a signal to the revanchist masses, of which he and Robert Kocharyan are the faces. The two of them couldn't gather a crowd, no one would come to meet them at the airport. This means that we can temporarily step into the shadow of Etchmiadzin and wait for the church to lead the people against the government.

The darkest masses have begun to move, and the sober-minded part of Armenian society may be too late to wake up. And in this case, it is not an internal matter of Armenia. The coming to power of the revanchist opposition in a neighboring country will definitely lead to the destabilization of the region. Azerbaijan does not need this, so what is happening in Armenia directly concerns its interests. Azerbaijan has many plans, great prospects and projects. The threat of a new war will stop all this and delay it, which Baku does not like at all. So what is happening in Armenia is also our business.

Therefore, we have the right to give advice to our neighbors: do not miss the moment of truth. If the healthy forces of Armenia do not stand up against the revanchists, they will lose the country. Pashinyan may be liked or disliked by someone, but this is not the main thing. Against the background of today's consolidation of the revanchist opposition, likes and dislikes no longer matter in the face of the threat of Armenia's loss of statehood. And she will lose it in the event of a new confrontation in the region. And no Ktrich Nersesyan will help to avoid this.