Under the pretext of reforms, Pashinyan is trying to usurp the Armenian Church: Robert Amsterdam

Under the pretext of reforms, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is trying to usurp the independent Armenian Apostolic Church, international lawyer Robert Amsterdam wrote on a social network.

According to him, the silence of the international community is no longer justifiable. “If any government anywhere in Europe tried to decide who would head a religious institution and what its internal management would be, it would rightly cause outrage. The church does not belong to Nikol Pashinyan. It doesn’t belong to his government. It belongs to believers, and its independence must be protected,” the lawyer stressed, calling on governments, religious leaders, human rights organizations and the Armenian Diaspora to publicly speak out against political interference in the affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church and protect its right to determine its own leadership and internal affairs without state coercion.

According to Amsterdam, Pashinyan behaves as if there is not a single institution in Armenia that stands above him. “Now he has placed himself above parliament, above the Church and, apparently, above God,” he concluded.