Armenian premier`s path clear to everyone- ARF

ArmInfo. Knowing the style of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, it is clear to everyone which path  he is taking, where he is leading the Armenian society. This was stated to journalists late at night at the Zvartnots airport by the representative of the Supreme Body of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun party Ishkhan Saghatelyan.

At Saghatelyan's call, numerous citizens, political and public  figures, lawyers and experts gathered at the airport to greet and  express their support for Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, who  is returning to Armenia from the United Arab Emirates.

According to the representative of the ARF party, Nikol Pashinyan has  been fighting the church since the day he came to power, but if  earlier he did it secretly, with the help of other people, now he has  launched an open attack on the church. "You are familiar with his  latest statement about the formation of the so-called coordination  group to remove the Catholicos from the governance of the Armenian  Apostolic Church," the Dashnaktsakan said.

He added that the action at Zvartnots Airport is intended to  demonstrate support for the Church and His Holiness. "We came to say:  the Church is not alone, we will not allow it to be treated like  this. This is the first simple step symbolizing our solidarity with  the AAC. If we want to drag this monster into its nest, we must  fight, there must be an appropriate response," said Ishkhan  Saghatelyan.

The day before, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came up with  an initiative to create a coordination group to remove the Catholicos  of All Armenians, who, according to the prime minister, broke his vow  of celibacy.

On May 29, at a government meeting, Pashinyan said that Armenian  churches resemble "closets filled with junk." The next day, he  published a harsh post on social media, in which he used rude  language towards the hierarchs of the AAC and accused one of the  archbishops of sexual promiscuity. At the same time, the prime  minister demanded that all priests who violated their vow of celibacy  be defrocked. The prime minister's wife, Anna Hakobyan, made similar  attacks, calling the patriarch "the main mafioso" and those who  criticized the "silencing" of churches "the main pedophiles of the  country." These statements provoked a sharp reaction from the clergy.

Amid the scandal, the prime minister proposed changing the procedure  for electing the head of the AAC so that the state would have a  decisive vote in the elections, and candidates would undergo an  ethics check.