Armenian Church explains need for Pashinyan's resignation

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is responsible for the outcome of the autumn escalation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and is unable to rectify the situation, the spokesman for the Armenian Apostolic Church has claimed while commenting on the request of Catholicos Garegin II to the Armenian Prime Minister to resign.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after the agreement on ending the combat actions in Nagorno-Karabakh had come into force on November 10, 2020, the Armenian opposition demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Both the President of Armenia and the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II called on Nikol Pashinyan to resign.

The request of the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) for the Nikol Pashinyan's resignation may be explained by objective reasons, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, the head of the Chancellery of the AAC's Spiritual Centre has noted today. "This should be considered not as an attitude towards the certain person, but as a consequence of oversights and the inability of the main person responsible for the crisis situation in Armenia [to correct mistakes]," Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan said.

He has emphasized that in the situation when it is not just about politics, but about the fate of the country, the Armenian Apostolic Church cannot remain an outside observer. "Taking into account our beliefs, it would be simply impossible for us not to react to the current situation. Therefore, I consider the reaction of the AAC and the Catholicos of All Armenians to request the resignation of the Prime Minister as natural," said Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan as quoted by the "Sputnik Armenia".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 7, 2021 at 03:51 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.