Armenian political analyst Hayk Nahapetyan has accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration of serving as an instrument for Turkish and Azerbaijani interests, claiming that campaigns against the Armenian Apostolic Church and efforts to dilute recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide are externally driven.

Speaking at a forum organized by the Alternative Projects Group on Wednesday, Nahapetyan argued that the government is not independently motivated in its policies. “The motivation belongs to two states — Turkey and Azerbaijan — while he [Pashinyan] is merely their executor,” he said.

Nahapetyan cited what he described as a coordinated effort to undermine the Armenian Apostolic Church, which he called the only national institution resisting regional pressures. He recalled that criticism of the Church and its leader, Catholicos Karekin II, intensified after a statement by Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, head of the Caucasus Muslims Board. Days later, Karekin II convened Christian leaders in Switzerland to discuss the genocide and the future of Artsakh.

According to Nahapetyan, Ankara and Baku envision Armenia’s future without Artsakh, genocide recognition and the institutional elements that preserve historical memory. He stressed that recognition of the genocide carries the prospect of material reparations, a scenario Turkey is determined to avoid. Neutralizing the diaspora — unified largely through the Church — is therefore central to this strategy, he said.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan, through Pashinyan, are attempting to dismantle the church,” Nahapetyan asserted, framing the campaign as part of a broader effort to erase the legacy of the genocide and weaken Armenian national identity.