Nephew of Armenian philanthropist jailed over comment in church-state conflict asks West for support

Armenia is in the midst of an escalating political crisis that has already landed its richest citizen and several senior clerics behind bars – even as the White House tries to broker peace in one of the world’s most entrenched military standoffs.

In the most high-profile case, Armenian-Russian billionaire and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan was arrested after publicly criticizing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s growing confrontation with the Armenian Apostolic Church.

In an exclusive interview with Just the News, Narek Karapetyan, Samvel Karapetyan’s nephew, said that Pashinyan’s desire to change the head of the church sparked recent developments that he said have attracted too little international attention.

“When a journalist asked my uncle what he thought, he said that if politicians will not defend our church, we will do it our way,” Narek Karapetyan said. “Thirty minutes later, the prime minister wrote on Facebook that ‘this philanthropist must shut his mouth,’ and he sent special forces to arrest him. Now he’s in jail in an old KGB basement.”

The situation is particularly delicate, since Samvel Karapetyan is viewed as a potential challenger to Pashinyan’s dominance in politics and business.

The younger Karapetyan said the situation merited more attention in the West, arguing Armenia's leaders try to show “they are in a good relationship with the American administration,” even as they jail religious figures and other critics. 

“We don't feel any support now from our Western colleagues and partners because of this,” he said.

In August, President Donald Trump hosted Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, at the White House in an effort to broker peace between the two long-time enemies. The countries have fought two wars over disputed territory in the last 40 years – one from 1988 to 1994 and another in 2020 – along with many smaller skirmishes.

The leaders signed a joint declaration stating they would agree to finalize terms for a peace treaty within a year.

But the internal strife in Armenia did not generate much attention during the talks in Washington.

“We think we need to have some support from our partners in the USA and from our partners in the West to make our government more democratic … [and] for us to take back religious freedom in our country,” Narek Karapetyan said.

In June, police arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a spiritual leader and vocal critic of the Pashinyan government, accusing him of plotting a government takeover in cahoots with disgruntled military leaders. Then this month, another key religious figure, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was arrested on allegations of plotting against the government.

Pashinyan has also publicly berated Catholicos Karekin II, the Armenian Apostolic Church’s supreme patriarch. Pashinyan accused him of moral misconduct, and he called on him to resign.

The church plays a central role in Armenian society. Armenia was the world’s first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in 301 AD, under King Tiridates III.

Critics of Pashinyan say the crackdown is the boldest against the church in Armenia since Soviet times. Pashinyan’s government has denied targeting the church or its supporters, saying the arrests are based on legal grounds and are unrelated to religion.