Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the Catholicos' comments imply support for an attempted military coup and calls for institutional reform.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted on his Facebook page that if the Catholicos “considers the detention of archbishops Vazgen Galstanyan and Gevorg Ajapahyan illegal, then he shares the plans for a military coup and associated acts of violence.”

“If Ktrich Nersisyan considers the arrest of Vazgen Galstanyan and Gevorg Ajapahyan unlawful, then he shares their ideology and plans aimed at organizing a military coup, shooting people against walls, and creating chaos in the country,” Pashinyan wrote.

He added that “especially in this situation, no territory in the enlarged Vagharshapat community can be off-limits to law enforcement, particularly since thanks to Ktrich and some others, these areas are not off-limits for adultery.”

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin had earlier released a statement calling on Armenian authorities to “immediately release the clerical brothers, a national benefactor, and associated compatriots, and act solely within the framework of the law.”

In his earlier Facebook post, Pashinyan also called for “active steps to free the Catholicosate and to organize new Catholicos elections.” He said a Coordinating Group will be formed to manage this agenda and that he will personally take responsibility for selecting its first ten members.