Attempt to detain the Archbishop of the Armenian Church led to a confrontation between security forces and believers

The National Security Service explained the refusal to detain Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian on the territory of the Echmiadzin Monastery by the desire to avoid escalating the conflict with believers.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, today Armenian security forces are conducting a search in the building of the Shirak Diocese in connection with the case of Archbishop Ajapakhian, who is suspected of calling for the violent overthrow of the government. Ajapakhian's lawyer was prohibited from being present during the search.

Special forces of the National Security Service, police officers, and other security forces have left the territory of the administrative center of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin. Soon the NSS issued a statement saying that the security forces decided to retreat "for security reasons and to prevent a possible and deliberate escalation of the situation."

"We call on citizens to refrain from escalating the situation and not to hinder the implementation of the lawful decisions of law enforcement agencies. We call on Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan (in the world - Gevork Artashesovich Ajapakhyan) not to hide from law enforcement agencies and to personally appear before the NSS task force," the statement said, quoted by News.am.

Earlier, NSS officers came to the residence of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Echmiadzin Monastery, when a meeting of clergy was taking place there, and the traffic police restricted traffic in the vicinity of the complex.

The clergy closed the gates of the spiritual center, not letting in law enforcement officers. Mikael Ajapakhyan himself came out to the law enforcement officers and stated his readiness to go with them to avoid further escalation of the conflict. He was put in a car, but the crowd surrounded the car, and in the end, the bishop could not be detained. Clashes are taking place between law enforcement officers, clergy and citizens, as follows from a broadcast on the News.am YouTube channel.

"I have never hidden and I am not going to hide now. What is happening is lawlessness. I have never been and am not a threat to this country, the main threat is in the government," Ajapakhyan told journalists, as quoted by the Novosti-Armenia agency.

"Despite the fact that Mikael Ajapakhyan was not properly notified of the need to appear before the investigative bodies, he decided to go to Yerevan and appear before the Investigative Committee," TASS quotes Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the Foreign Relations and Protocol Department of the Mother See.

It should be noted that, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, Ajapakhyan is suspected under Article 422 of the Criminal Code (public calls for usurpation of power, violation of territorial integrity, renunciation of sovereignty or violent overthrow of the constitutional order), which provides for imprisonment for a term of two to five years.

Recall that in 2024, Bagrat Galstanyan led the protest movement "Tavush in the Name of the Motherland" (now called "Sacred Struggle"), which opposed the transfer of border territories to Azerbaijan, and was nominated by opposition forces for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia. In May of the same year, Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian participated in a protest march of residents of the Shirak region who demanded an end to the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan.

The confrontation between the Armenian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified in 2020 against the backdrop of the 44-day Karabakh war and the authorities' desire to improve relations with Turkey. On June 9, Pashinyan called for the election of a new head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.