Armenian government says “oligarchic-spiritual” power grab foiled: security forces conduct searches
25 June 2025 21:27
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that law enforcement officers had prevented an attempted violent seizure of power, allegedly prepared by the opposition in collusion with “criminal oligarchic clergy,” "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
He announced this on his social media page, Echo of the Caucasus reports, citing Armenian sources.
According to Pashinyan, this is a large-scale plan to destabilize the situation in the country.
“Law enforcement agencies foiled the sinister plan of the ‘criminal oligarchic clergy’ to seize power in Armenia,” he wrote.
Since the morning of June 25, security forces have been conducting searches in the homes of members and supporters of the Holy Struggle opposition movement, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan. The movement has already confirmed that the searches are ongoing at the residence of Galstanyan himself.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee accuses the archbishop of attempting a coup d’état. In a statement, the agency said that he and his accomplices allegedly acquired the means to commit terrorist attacks and created conditions for the usurpation of power.
The day before, the opposition publication Civic published an alleged coup plan obtained from “reliable sources in the opposition.” The document contains step-by-step actions, a list of participants and resources involved in the preparation of the plot. A link to the publication was also posted on Pashinyan’s Facebook page.
As a reminder, the conflict between the head of government and the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church has been going on for several months. One of the church’s key allies, billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, was recently arrested on charges of publicly calling for the overthrow of the government.
