Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin responds to Pashinyan`s  recent  statement 

ArmInfo. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin responded to the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent statement claiming "all our churches have been turned into closet ( chulanizied).  The head of the chancery of the  Mother See, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan addressed an open letter,  titled "The Prime Minister's Deadly Love for Shrines".

"It is commendable that the current Prime Minister has finally  understood his and the authorities' responsibility in preserving  shrines that have the status of monuments.  However, it is  regrettable that, when commenting on such a delicate issue, even a  person holding such a high position cannot help but demonstrate the  lack of a "fashionable" education (Pashinyan and his wife are  conducting a campaign called "Learning is fashionable" - ed.), as  well as an internal crisis of correct public communication and deep  understanding of the issues>,  Khachatryan wrote on his Telegram  channel.  Regarding the preservation of shrines that have the status  of monuments, he noted that since the beginning of 2019, the Church  has repeatedly appealed to government agencies and emphasized the  need for a joint discussion of the existing issues. Unfortunately,  these appeals have gone  unanswered by both the state authorized body  and the government itself.

  "The Prime Minister's sudden interest in shrines, however, also has  a comforting potential. Perhaps the head of state will suddenly  decide to  pay attention to Azerbaijan's growing ambitions regarding  Armenian shrines. Perhaps, it is also worth considering the vital  issues related to the preservation of holy sites in occupied Artsakh,  which are under threat of destruction," Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan  summed up.