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BBC correspondent South Caucaso
A bitter confrontation between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Apostolic Church Armenia has seen mass arrests, accusations of a plot of blows and an extraordinary offer of the Armenian leader to reveal its private parts to demonstrate that it is a Christian.
Earlier this week, Pashinyan told his 1.1 million followers on Facebook that he was prepared to expose himself to the head of the Armenian Church and his spokesman, to show that they were wrong that he had been circumcised.
Social networks became their favorite media after arriving at office after the so -called 2018 Velvet revolution in Armenia.
Pashinyan faces the fundamental elections next year and the Church has become a prominent anti -government voice since Armenia was defeated in a 2020 war with Azerbaián neighbor.
His extraordinary offer last Monday followed a Facebook publication of a priest in the southwest city of Masis, who claimed that Pashinyan had been circumcised, comparing it with Judas and implying that he was not a Christian.
“I think that our Santa Apostolic Church must be cleaned immediately,” said Father Zareh Ashuryan, “of those false” believers “who have betrayed the nation, dishonored the memory of their ancestors, violated baptism and replaced the seal of the Holy Cross with the sign of circumcision.”
The confrontation between the Church and the State began at the end of May when the prime minister accused the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II Catholicos, to break his vote of celibacy and generate a child, demanding the replacement of the church leader.
The Church issued a statement accusing Pashinyan of undermining the “spiritual unity” of Armenia, but did not approach the claim on the child.
Subsequently, the media affiliated with the government distributed photos and names of the alleged daughter of Karekin II, while Pashinyan established a “coordination group” to organize the election of a new church leader, despite the constitutional provisions that guarantee the separation of the Church and the State.
When Karekin II returned from a trip to the EAU last week, hundreds of followers met at Ereván airport singing Vehicle (Pontiff).
He asked for unity and moderation, saying that they would “overcome this difficulty” together.
The crisis intensified on Wednesday, when security services arrested 16 people, including archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a senior cleric that leads the Sacred Wrestling Movement of the opposition. They face accusations of drawing terrorist acts to take power.
Among the other detainees are an opposition member, a former deputy, a businessman and a blogger.
The Armenian Research Committee alleges that the group planned to establish 250 groups of “assault” of 25 members each to carry out attacks and cause mass disturbances, and that “a large number of elements and objects destined for criminal activities” were found during searches.
The Archbishop directed the main anti -government protests last year and a court now ruled that two months should spend preventive detention. He faces the positions of planning terrorism and trying to overthrow the State.
His lawyers have dismissed accusations as “political persecution.”
The arrests followed the publication of what the media affiliated with the government affirmed that was a detailed opposition plan, supposedly involving the church, recently arrested the Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, and two former presidents: Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.
Nikol Pashinyan shared a montage of the photos of the four men and said that the event would continue to be a “failed revolution of criminals.”
In a statement, the Sargsyan Republican Party accused the government of using the “system of application of the law to silence political opponents.”
Samvel Karapetyan, who has the double Russian and Armenian citizenship, is one of Armenian’s richest men, with an estimated wealth of $ 4 billion (£ 2.9 billion).
It has the Tashir group, known throughout Russia for its pizza brand. It is a conglomerate that operates real estate, as well as the electrical networks of Armenia, an important energy distributor in the country.
Karapetyan, one of the most prominent benefactors of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the recipient of the High Church awards, was arrested after making a public video promising his support for the Church.
“I have always stopped with the Armenian Church and the Armenian people. If politicians are not successful, we will intervene our way in this campaign against the Church,” he warned.
Hours after the statement, the law agents searches at the Karapetyan mansion, was arrested and then accused of publicly asking for the seizure of power.
He has denied all the charges against him.
Pashinyan spokesman suggested that the billionaire had decided to use a “classic manual received from the north”, a clear reference to Russia.
Later, the prime minister announced his intention to nationalize the electrical networks of Armenia (ENA) of Karapetyan and said a cabinet meeting on Thursday that the government would begin to take control of it.
“We must do this quickly and effectively,” said Pashinyan.
After the advertising fences of Karapetyan’s arrests with their photos they appeared in Moscow, and the Armenian diaspora of Russia expressed its support to the billionaire.
The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Moscow was “closely monitoring” the situation around “Samvel Karapetyan” Russian “promising to provide the necessary assistance to ensure that his legal rights were respected.