Vardevanyan: The topic related to the AAC is artificial

ArmInfo. The topic related to the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leader, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, is artificial. Aram Vardevanyan, Vice Speaker of the RA National Assembly from the opposition Strong Armenia faction, told journalists on October 5.

According to him, while the opposition is talking about parliamentarism and strengthening the parliamentary form of government, the head of the executive body is introducing a topic that cannot in any way be connected with the RA National Assembly. Vardevanyan believes that all issues related to Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II should not be considered by the country's parliament. The Strong Armenia faction will not participate in all this. "There can be no such agenda, the parliament has nothing to do with this issue and cannot have one, even if three investigative commissions are created. Political reactions and actions are expected on a number of issues in the near future," Vardevanyan noted, adding that clear assessments of the inadmissibility of this phenomenon are also coming from the member states of the Council of Europe. Let us recall that an investigative commission has been created in the Armenian parliament to study the crisis in the AAC. The conflict between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the leadership of the AAC has lasted for more than two years. It intensified after some of the clergy supported anti-government protests. At the end of September 2026, the Prime Minister's Office published a report on the "crisis in the Armenian Apostolic Church," in which it proposed a five-stage reform plan, including replacing the Catholicos of All Armenians and adopting a new charter. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin called the government's actions and initiatives illegal, unconstitutional, and a gross interference in the internal affairs of a religious organization.