Law enforcement has raided a local seat of the national church that has protested territorial concessions to Azerbaijan
Armenian police have raided the seat of the country’s Apostolic Church, the country’s largest, in the city of Vagharshapat, leading to major clashes between clerics, church members, and law enforcement.
Security forces have attempted to detain Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan on suspicion of attempting to stage a coup. According to the country’s Investigative Committee, Adjapahyan – who was protected by protesters – remains at large. The cleric himself, however, said that he was ready to go with officers while denying any wrongdoing.
The country’s government has been at odds with the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) for months, as it emerged as the main driver behind the mass protests against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s agreement to return several border villages to Azerbaijan.
While Pashinyan portrayed the move as a pathway to mending tenuous relations between the two former Soviet republics, many Armenians have seen it as a betrayal of national interests.
Archbishop Ajapahyan said he hadn't received a notification summoning the Investigative Committee of #Armenia. He noted that the officers had broken into #Etchmiadzin, destroyed everything, seized a laptop & disks. They'll be bitterly disappointed, he said.#ArmenianChurch pic.twitter.com/vqGfizE0Kb
— Karina Karapetyan (@KarinaKarapety8) June 27, 2025
