Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan has responded through his legal team to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s recent statement, in which the PM claimed that “if the Catholicos considers the archbishops to be unlawfully detained, then he shares the plans for a military coup.”

In his statement, Archbishop Ajapahyan said: “This morning, a certain ... (fill in as you see fit) who ordered a politically motivated and unlawful prosecution against me and my detention, made another false and defamatory statement against His Holiness, myself, and Archbishop Bagrat. In this context, I will only say that in my view, Archbishop Bagrat has not created any terrorist organization. Therefore, I could not support or take part in something that does not exist, and neither could His Holiness sponsor something non-existent. Got it, you ... (fill in accordingly)?”

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has called on the Armenian authorities to immediately release the detained clergy, national benefactor, and others associated, and to act strictly within the law.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously wrote on Facebook that “steps must be taken to liberate the Catholicosate and to organize new Catholicos elections.” He added that at this stage, “we must form a Coordinating Group to manage the organizational issues of the above agenda,” and noted that he would take personal responsibility for selecting the group’s first 10 members.