Armenia Arrests Archbishop For Plotting Coup 

Armenian security services foiled a plot to overthrow the government Wednesday, according to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, after authorities detained one of the country’s top religious leaders, the second arrest of that kind in a week, Al Jazeera reported.  

Armenian officials accused Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the opposition movement, Holy Struggle, of planning to overthrow the government with the help of supporters. 

Officials added that the group recruited about 1,000 people and divided them into strike groups, each given a task to destabilize the country, such as blocking roads, inciting violence or blocking the Internet. 

Galstanyan’s lawyer called the charges “fiction” and said authorities only found smoke bombs that are commonly used at protests in Armenia after searching the cleric’s house for six hours, the Associated Press wrote.  

More than 10 other members of the opposition have been detained after police raids were conducted at their homes. 

The arrest of Galstanyan underscores an escalating fight between Pashinyan and the Apostolic Church, a conflict that escalated when Armenia lost the region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in a 2023 military defeat.  

Last year, after Armenia handed over control of multiple border villages to Azerbaijan, agreeing to normalize relations with its neighbor, Galstanyan led large protests demanding the prime minister’s resignation. 

Then, in early June, the prime minister pressed church leader Catholicos Karekin II to resign, accusing him of fathering a child despite his vow of celibacy. In turn, the church accused Pashinyan of wanting to undermine Armenia’s “spiritual unity.”  

Some, including influential Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, say the church is under attack in the country. After posting a video detailing that accusation, Karapetyan was arrested and accused of inciting a coup.