Attacks on Armenian church arouse concern - Russian FM

ArmInfo.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the situation in Armenia is an internal matter of this country, but attacks on the Armenian  Apostolic Church are a cause for concern.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry made this statement  following the summit of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the  Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Kyrgyzstan.

"It is clear that this is an internal matter of our neighbors, but,  of course, attacks on the canonical thousand- year-old Armenian  Apostolic Church are a cause for serious concern," Lavrov said,  Smotrim.ru reports.

He emphasized that the church has always been one of the key pillars  of Armenian society. According to Lavrov, Russia would not like this  church to be subjected to unjustified attacks without serious  grounds.

The Foreign Minister added that Russia is interested in this  situation being resolved as soon as possible on the basis of the  Constitution of Armenia, as well as "on the basis of full respect for  the rights of believers, as well as other human rights." Let us  recall that on June 27, Armenian security forces attempted to storm  the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to detain the head of the Shirak  Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Mikael  Ajapakhian, but to no avail. Believers did not allow the security  forces to enter the Holy of Holies. The archbishop is accused of  calling for the overthrow of the government in the country. He does  not admit guilt. Before this, another representative of the clergy,  Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the "Sacred Struggle" movement, was  detained under a far-fetched pretext. This was preceded by attacks by  the Armenian prime minister and his associates on the Armenian  Church.