The attack on the church is a direct and indirect demand from Turkey and Azerbaijan, Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan said in a Facebook post. He emphasized that those who fail to understand this should realize that tolerating assaults on churches leaves almost nothing behind: “Next will be everyone’s homes.”

Geghamyan posted a photo of the Surb Hambardzum Church in Berdzor, destroyed two years ago.

“I was baptized here. This is the Church of the Ascension in Berdzor, one of the houses of God built by human hands.

For two years now, it has been leveled to the ground by Azerbaijan.

Those who hold power in Armenia not only handed this house to the enemy but also showed no sorrow. They called this house Azerbaijan. They cannot speak from the position of defending God and the Church.

They cannot, not only because they have no right, but because they are enemies of the Church and everything national.

The attack on the church is the direct and indirect demand of Turkey and Azerbaijan. Whoever doesn’t understand this must remember that if we swallow this assault too, there will be hardly anything left. Everyone’s homes will be next.

The national church is one of our last trenches,” his post reads.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Facebook that “it is necessary to take active steps to free the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and organize new Catholicos elections.” He added, “We must now form a Coordinating Group to handle the organizational matters of this agenda.” He also stated he would take responsibility for selecting the first ten members of this group.