Armenia`s authorities denigrating AAC in systematic manner - Arman  Tatoyan

ArmInfo. In addition to the attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church and its clergy during his years in power, the head of the executive power of Armenia has added public incitement of hatred and enmity. The process is systemic, and the deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia from  the ruling Civil Contract faction have also joined in. This is what  the former Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia Arman  Tatoyan writes about.

"The true goal of the leader of the ruling party is to subjugate the  Armenian Apostolic Church for political calculations in order to  finally fulfill the unilateral Azerbaijani demands that he needs to  maintain his own power. To this end, he discredits the Church and  belittles its weight throughout the world, which leads to the  destruction of the pillar of Armenian identity," Tatoyan noted.

According to him, the words of joy and gratitude addressed to the  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, which are heard in  Azerbaijan, are not accidental. "To achieve his goal, the leader of  the "GD" party uses the apparent or real problems that exist within  the Church, the solution of which is in fact exclusively the business  of the Church. According to the Constitution, the church is separated  from the state. This is an illegal campaign against high-ranking  clergy, as well as the Catholicos of All Armenians.  The Armenian  authorities planned this campaign in advance, illegally collecting  personal data of clergy in order to use it for their political  purposes. Now they are talking about threats of their illegal  publication.  Moreover, all this is done by the Prime Minister and  other officials, illegally using their powers and state influence.

Cases of real potential violence against clergy, provoked by  supporters of the authorities, are already being recorded. The  country's authorities are responsible for all this. This is an  axiomatic truth," the human rights activist emphasized.

He added that the head of state and the government, who are truly  concerned about the problems of the Church, will never choose this  unprecedented illegal way of solving the problems.

"We must realize that this process carried out by the head of the  government of the Republic of Armenia is destructive for Armenia, we  must protect the centuries-old authority of the Armenian Apostolic  Church and our cherished values, and not allow false agendas to  divide us and distract us from the main existential issues," Arman  Tatoyan noted.