Armenia`s premier addresses message concerning Catholicos Garegin II 

ArmInfo.  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has once again issued threats against Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.

On his Facebook page, he noted that if Ktrich Nersisyan (Garegin II)  considers the detention of Vazgen Galstanyan (Archbishop Bagrat  Galstanyan) and Gevorg Ajapakhyan (Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan)  illegal, then he shares the ideology and plans of the above-mentioned  persons to carry out a military coup and create chaos in the country.  "In this case, not a single territory of the enlarged Vagharshapat  community can be closed to the activities of law enforcement  agencies.

Moreover, thanks to Ktrich and several other persons, these  territories are used for adultery," Nikol Pashinyan wrote.

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, including the Catholicos of All  Armenians, 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 criticizing 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. It should  also be noted that Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and several of his  supporters were arrested on June 25 after large-scale searches and  detentions. The Investigative Committee reported that an attempt at  an armed seizure of power had been prevented. Galstanyan and his  associates are accused of "preparing terrorist acts and mass riots,  and attempting to seize power." A case was opened against Archbishop  Ajapakhyan on charges of calling for the seizure of power and the  renunciation of sovereignty. On June 29, he was arrested for two  months.