When the Shepherd Stands Accused: Cross and Crisis in Armenia

A dramatic political showdown is unfolding in Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, accused a senior religious leader of plotting a violent coup to topple his government.

Local media reports that the alleged conspiracy, involving weapons, explosives, and a network of former soldiers, has rattled a nation already fractured by war, political disillusionment, and deepening divisions between church and state.

On Wednesday, authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a leading cleric in the powerful Armenian Apostolic Church and figurehead of the opposition movement Holy Struggle.

Local media say his detention which captured in video footage showed masked officers escorting him from his home, marks a turning point in a long-simmering standoff between Pashinyan and the church hierarchy.

“Law enforcement officers prevented a large and sinister plan by the ‘criminal-oligarchic clergy’ to destabilize the Republic of Armenia and seize power,” Pashinyan wrote on Facebook, citing a statement by the country’s Investigative Committee.

The committee announced that Galstanyan and 15 others had been charged with plotting a terrorist act and attempting to seize state power by force.

Fourteen people have been arrested so far, though officials have yet to release the full list of names.

According to investigators, the group amassed weapons and explosives, recruited around 1,000 supporters.

The recruits included former police officers and soldiers.

The group then reportedly divided them into tactical units.

Their alleged mission: to incite chaos through road blockades, violence, and even internet blackouts.

Authorities say the plan involved turning public frustration into a full-blown insurrection.

Audio recordings, reportedly of Galstanyan and his associates, discussing the details of the operation were made public by the Investigative Committee.

Despite the serious allegations, Galstanyan remained defiant.

As he was led away by police, he shouted: “Evil, listen carefully – whatever you do, you have very little time left.

“Hold on, we are coming,” in what appeared to be a warning directed at Prime Minister Pashinyan.

Crowds gathered outside chanted, “Nikol is a traitor,” echoing the sentiments of growing anti-government protests.

A member of parliament close to Galstanyan, Garnik Danielyan, called the arrests “actions of a dictatorial regime.”

Danielyan asserted that the charges were politically motivated and entirely fabricated.

The developments come just weeks after another high-profile arrest: Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who was accused of inciting a power grab.

His detention added fuel to speculation that the government is cracking down on dissent amid growing instability.

Armenia has been in political turmoil since its devastating defeat in the 2020 and 2023 conflicts with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The loss of the contested enclave, once home to ethnic Armenians, dealt a severe blow to national morale and shattered confidence in Pashinyan’s leadership.

Critics have accused the prime minister of surrendering too easily and failing to defend Armenian interests.

The fallout has created a deep rift between the state and the church.

Catholicos Garegin II, the highest-ranking figure in the Apostolic Church, has openly called for Pashinyan’s resignation.

Galstanyan, the Primate of the Tavush Diocese and once a respected religious leader, has become the face of resistance, channeling widespread public anger through mass rallies and fiery rhetoric.

Pashinyan has hit back, even attempting earlier this month to unseat Garegin II by urging Armenians to “liberate” the church and choose a new spiritual head.

The unprecedented political interference in religious leadership has only intensified the crisis.

While the government paints the arrests as a necessary move to prevent bloodshed and restore order, many Armenians see it as an authoritarian overreach, a leader tightening his grip on power under the guise of national security.

Russia, a key treaty ally of Armenia but a diminishing force in the Caucasus, offered a muted response.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the alleged coup plot an internal matter but stressed the importance of “calm and order” in the region.

As the dust settles from Wednesday’s arrests, Armenians are left confronting a sobering reality.

The reality is that their fragile democracy is being tested by a dangerous mix of political unrest, military defeat, and now, allegations of a church-backed coup.

For a nation at a crossroads, the stakes have never been higher.

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