Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says security forces have foiled a coup plot involving a senior cleric, who is part of Armenia's Apostolic Church, and was trying to use the pretext of regional issues to mount pressure on the government.
Pashinyan has been at loggerheads with senior clerics since 2020 following Armenia's military confrontation with Azerbaijan over the Karabakh region.
"Law enforcement officers have foiled a large-scale and sinister plan by the 'criminal-oligarchic clergy' to destabilise the situation in the Republic of Armenia and seize power," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
He shared a statement by Armenia's investigative committee, which said that Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan had "since November 2024 set himself the goal of changing power by means not permitted by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia."
Reports say Galstanyan has been detained.
Galstanyan, the leader of the opposition Sacred Struggle movement, last year used the regional issues with Azerbaijan to instigate protests, which ultimately failed to topple the prime minister.
Investigation underway
The investigative committee said that Galstanyan "with the prior consent of several members of the movement, acquired the necessary means and tools to carry out terrorist acts and seize power."
"Searches are currently underway at the homes of Archbishop Bagrat and around 30 of his associates," it added.
Earlier this month, Pashinyan launched an unprecedented challenge to Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, urging believers to remove him from office.
