March: 12, 2026
The International Court of Democracy in Armenia (IODA), which monitors democracy, made preliminary assessments today.
“Armenia. the targeting of political opponents, the abuse of judicial and security structures before the June parliamentary elections, cause concerns,” the international initiative recorded.
168․am–Today, the members of the initiative were interested: yesterday in the European Parliament, Pashinyan accused the church and the clergy of being against peace, as well as being under foreign influence, how do they view these accusations?
In response, Kenneth Roth first expressed his position and specifically noted: “We are not here to stand for or against in these elections. we are not for or against any candidate, nor do we have any position on the political issues facing this country.
We know very well that questions are being raised about what should be Armenia’s relations with Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Iran, the West, we do not take a position on those issues, and we will not appreciate the church’s comments on this matter, because the church has every right to take a certain position, to be for or against the actions of the government. that is his right, that is what democracy is about.
We are here to say that the fact that the church has a different position from the prime minister does not give the prime minister the right to start taking revenge, does not give the right to start interfering with the independence of this important structure and clergy.”
Sarah Whiston added: “We have not heard any evidence of foreign political control over the church, political parties, etc. We know about the government’s accusations, which were presented to the Investigative Committee, that there are external forces that are putting pressure on Diaspora Armenians to supposedly come to Armenia and vote. But even if it were, it would not necessarily be a crime. Armenians have the right to come to Armenia and vote.”
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