168: Is it a coincidence? Let’s be careful

The police informed today that a 31-year-old man entered the territory of the Surb Harutyun Church of Parakar community, demonstrated illegal behavior, broke the property of the church, causing property damage. He was arrested and taken to the police station on suspicion of committing hooliganism.

This incident is reminiscent of an episode that took place just days after the 2018 color revolution. Days after the revolution, on April 29, a man with a backpack, climbing on top of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, tried to cut down the cross of the cathedral in order to replace it with an iron rose.

2018 On April 30, the Public Relations and Information Department of the RA Police issued the following message.

“On April 29, at 15:00, the officers of the community police department of Vagharshapat department presented a man born in 1981 to the department from the territory of the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin. It was found out on the spot that the latter climbed the dome of the Cathedral on his own around 2:30 p.m. and tried to cut the cross on the dome with the metal saw he had and replaced it with a metal rose,” the police said and added that the citizen did not manage to damage and cut the cross. The man presented to the police two metal saws, a metal rose and a rope that he had, which were seized in order to carry out further checks. The circumstances are being clarified, an investigation is being conducted. The 37-year-old man was released.

Even in those mixed days, many people did not pay much attention to that terrifying episode. We still didn’t find out who it was, by whom it was sent, what purpose it was pursuing. However, it is a fact that as a result of that color revolution, the Armenian Apostolic Church and His Holiness have been the target of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Nikol Pashinyan and his CP group for 8 years.

Later, not only did they begin to block the path of His Holiness the Patriarch, but also a group of thugs, who later became holders of positions, invaded the Vehara, made threats… All this, as it turned out later, was done on the orders of Nikol Pashinyan, and he was also given orders by the Aliyevs and Pashazades…

The terror continues to this day. Holy fathers were imprisoned, persecuted, they began to express themselves in the most impudent, street language towards the Catholicos of All Armenians and other clergymen, curses and slanders were uttered, the subject of church history was removed from schools, textbooks of Armenian history heroes were edited according to Turkish-Azerbaijani demands, photos of Artsakh boys were scratched from the walls and school plaques, they were removed, attacks were made against Mount Ararat and other symbols. started…

Let’s also remind that during these 8 years, there have been non-stop attacks against our sanctuaries, they tried to desecrate tombstones, churches… And, for example, in 2022. on July 30, foreign tourists filmed a pornographic video in the “Erebuni” fortress and spread it on the Internet. The couple shared the video on a popular international porn site, but it was quickly removed after the uproar. The museum area was monitored by the police, that’s why many people did not understand how the tourists managed to shoot such a video…

By the way, the desecration of the Erebuni Museum took place during the developments surrounding the handing over of the Lachin Corridor, probably to distract people… After that, on August 25-26, 2022, Berdzor town, Aghavno and Sus villages on the route of the old Lachin Corridor were finally handed over to Azerbaijan.

Today Nikol Pashinyan and his group are trying to deliver the last blow to the Armenian Apostolic Church. As a candidate of historical sciences, associate professor Mikael Malkhasyan correctly defined the goal of these authorities and the external forces dictating to them: to eliminate the institution of the Catholicos, to nullify it.

“They do not have a problem with the person of the Catholicos, they have a problem with the institution and the church of the Catholicos. They just need us not to have a Catholicos. They simply say that there should be a vicar priest, there is no need for a Catholicos, and this violates the canonical order of the Armenian Church. The Armenian church will become a nullified structure, without any authority. This is what they want. No canonical church will accept our church at that time. And our people must understand this, regardless of whether they love His Holiness or not. Until now, the canonical churches do not understand what to do with the Archbishop of Canterbury because she is a woman. The leader of the Anglican Church is a woman, and they don’t know how to deal with it. The Catholic Church does not have an institution of married priests in general. They want to abolish our church. That’s all.” said Malkhasyan.

Let us remind you of some other cases: cases of vandalism and desecration of churches, shrines, graves, khachkars and symbols of national memory in the territory of the Republic of Armenia during 2018-2026, as well as crimes committed by Nikol Pashinyan.

• Desecration of tombstones of “Yerablur” military pantheon, 2019. Melted wax was poured on the tombstones of the victims of the April 2016 war. The police arrested the suspected woman. He said that he had performed similar actions in other cemeteries as well.

• Breaking the head of the statue of Jesus Christ in the yard of the Saint Lazar Church in Metsamor. 2020 September unknown persons broke the head of the statue of Jesus Christ placed in the courtyard of the church. The incident happened about ten days before the 44-day war.

• Desecration of Leonid Azgaldyan’s monument in 2022. the face of the bust of the national hero of Artsakh, freedom fighter Leonid Azgaldyan was damaged. A man was arrested in connection with the incident.
• 2022, theft of the metal head of the Komitas monument. the metal head of the Komitas monument placed at the entrance to the park named after Vahagn Davtyan was stolen.

• April 20, 2022. Damage to the khachkar of the Tukh Manuk church yard in Jararat.

• 2022 April 23. Surb Harutyun Church on Davit Beki Street, Yerevan damage to the statue of the entrance arch. The basalt statue of Jesus Christ placed on the arch was damaged, breaking its legs, damaging its hands and head. According to the publication, that statue was also damaged before.

• 2025 may Nikol Pashinyan began public interventions in the internal management of the Armenian Apostolic Church, demanding church changes and the removal of the Catholicos.

• 2025 June Nikol Pashinyan publicized his ideas for changes in church governance, launching new attacks against the church, using vulgar language in speeches and Facebook posts.

• On June 27, 2025, in the morning, the Special Forces of the National Security Service entered the territory of the Holy Etchmiadzin Mother See. At that moment, a gathering of clergy was going on in Veharan, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II was also present. Clergymen and believers resisted the actions of the security forces, clashes and scuffles took place. The forces were forced to leave the territory of the Mother See.

• Months after the events of June, on December 18, accompanied by the National Security Service and police forces, 10 tyrants cooperating with Nikol Pashinyan arrived at the Mother See, demanding the resignation of Catholicos Karegin II. They, accompanied by the special forces of the National Security Service and the police, who used force, tried to enter the Mother See, some rascals from the KP side were kicking the doors of the Cathedral, cursing… 10 supporters of the Catholicos met the invaders, chanting “Vehhapar” and “Judas”. The police used force against the crowd to clear the way. The Tiradavs announced that they delivered a letter demanding the resignation of the Catholicos to the Secretariat of the Mother See, then left, again accompanied by the security forces.

• A political process started in the National Assembly. The CP faction moved the issue of the church and clergy to the parliamentary agenda.

• in 2026 September 24: On the instructions of Nikol Pashinyan, a fake report “about the crisis and its solution” was published in the Armenian Apostolic Church with proposed changes.

• October 2: An investigative commission on issues of the Armenian Apostolic Church was established in the National Assembly.

• October 6: The National Assembly approved the composition of 11 members of the commission with 62 votes in favor of CP members. The opposition factions refused to participate Those treasonous actions against the Church։

• October 26. The first session of the investigative commission took place, in which 7 representatives of the CP participated.

And that’s not all…

The process carried out against the Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian sanctities is an unconstitutional interference not only in the self-government of the church, but also in our national identity. It fits into the logic of the hostile agenda of weakening the national-spiritual foundations of Armenia and the Armenian people.

Let’s be alert, be careful, don’t let it happen.