Armenia Claims to Have Foiled Plot to Seize Power by Force: 14 Detained, Including Archbishop Galstanyan

On June 25, Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced that it had opened criminal proceedings against members of the opposition movement Sacred Struggle, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

According to investigators, after failing to achieve a change in government through peaceful and constitutional means—such as the mass protests that took place in the summer of 2024 — the movement allegedly began preparing for a violent power grab.

Authorities claim that supporters of the movement formed around 250 strike units of up to 25 individuals each, composed largely of former military personnel and police officers.

The groups reportedly planned terrorist acts, arson, staged car accidents, and armed attacks on government buildings.

During searches conducted across more than 90 locations, law enforcement allegedly seized firearms, explosives, smoke grenades, recruitment lists, and documents detailing the group’s purported illegal activities.

A total of 16 criminal cases have been launched, and 14 individuals have been detained, including Archbishop Galstanyan, Artsakh National Assembly member Davit Galstyan, and businessman Tigran Galstyan. Video footage released by local media shows Galstanyan being escorted from his home and placed into a police vehicle. His lawyer confirmed that he was taken to the Investigative Committee for questioning.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that law enforcement had disrupted “a large-scale plan to destabilize the country” allegedly orchestrated by what he called the “criminal-oligarchic clergy.”

The crackdown comes amid deepening tensions between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Pashinyan has frequently criticized church leaders for their ties to Armenia’s former political elite, which he has labeled a “criminal regime.”

In May 2025, he referred to the nation’s churches as “storerooms filled with junk,” and later published a Facebook post accusing Catholicos Garegin II of breaking his vow of celibacy and allegedly fathering a child.

Pashinyan claimed this made him ineligible, under church law, to hold his current position.

The prime minister’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, escalated the rhetoric further, calling Garegin II “the country’s chief mafioso” and branding his supporters as “the main pedophiles of the nation.”

In response, the Supreme Spiritual Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church accused the government of launching a politically motivated campaign to discredit the church and undermine national unity. “The anti-church policy has a clearly political character,” the Council said, “and its aim is to damage the church’s authority both at home and abroad.

These actions pose a threat to Armenia’s statehood, the unity of the Armenian people, and the nation’s moral strength.”

Prominent businessman Samvel Karapetyan, head of the Tashir Group and a Russian citizen, voiced support for the church. He condemned what he described as an “attack” on the church and the people by “a small group” that had forgotten Armenian history.

Karapetyan pledged to intervene in the situation “in his own way” if politicians failed to stop the campaign.

Shortly after his statement, Karapetyan’s home was searched and he was placed under arrest on charges of inciting a coup. Pashinyan responded by stating that such threats to the republic would not be tolerated.

“No one can threaten Armenia,” the prime minister said. “Those who speak in this way will feel the full weight of the state.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Moscow is in contact with Armenian authorities regarding the arrest of Karapetyan, a Russian citizen.

However, he emphasized that the events in Armenia remain an internal matter for the country.