Pashinyan vs. Garegin: they found the first culprit

In the recent Armenian-Church conflict, the first scapegoat has emerged.

According to Zhokhovurd newspaper, citing sources close to the authorities, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was dissatisfied with the actions of his Chief of Staff, Arayik Harutyunyan, who was tasked with the "operation" to remove Catholicos Garegin II and find a replacement for him.

The newspaper claims that Harutyunyan was supposed to coordinate key steps to neutralize the influence of Armenia’s current spiritual leader. However, instead, the situation only escalated: the church became even more hostile towards the authorities, and no concrete actions were taken.

According to sources, Pashinyan is now considering the possibility of removing Harutyunyan if he fails to complete the task.

The Prime Minister has already announced his intention to personally "liberate the church from the Antichrist group."

In response, Catholicos Garegin II accused the authorities of launching an anti-church campaign.

It seems that Yerevan is now looking for someone to blame for the failure of the plan to purge the clergy.