Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has offered to show his penis to the head of the Armenian Church, Karekin II, after a priest accused him of being circumcised.
Father Zareh Ashuryan accused Pashinyan of being circumcised in a Facebook post on Monday, comparing him to Judas and implying that he was not Christian.
‘I believe that our Apostolic Holy Church must immediately cleanse itself of those false “believers” who are traitors to the nation, have dishonoured the memory of their ancestors, broken the vow of baptism, and replaced the seal of the Holy Cross with the sign of circumcision’, Ashuryan wrote.
He additionally urged Pashinyan to declare the name of his spiritual father if that was not Judas, adding that Pashinyan wanted to ‘surpass his spiritual forefather’ Judas Iscariot and called Pashinyan ‘Judas of Ijevan’, in reference to his birthplace.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Pashinyan again addressed Karekin II by his birth name, saying that he was ‘ready to accept Ktrij Nersisyan and his spokesperson [father Ashuryan] and prove the opposite’ about his being circumcised.
Pashinyan also reiterated his question to Karekin II — ‘And let him finally answer the question of whether he has broken his vow of celibacy or not. Does he have a child or not?’.
This was the most recent exchange of accusations between the Armenian Government and the Church in recent weeks.
Tensions between Pashinyan and the Church reached an all-time high after Pashinyan claimed in late May that churches had become ‘storerooms’ and that clergymen were breaking their vows of celibacy. Pashinyan additionally accused Karekin II of having a child.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Pashinyan claimed that he raised the issue, suggesting that he saw ‘a threat to spiritual security’ as a follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church, while as prime minister, he saw ‘a threat to national security’.
Following Pashinyan’s accusations, government-affiliated media circulated a photo and name of Karekin II’s alleged daughter.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
A Church coup?
On Tuesday, Civic.am, affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract party, also published a seven page document which it claimed was ‘the opposition’s coup plan’.
According to the published content, the church, as well as recently detained Russian–Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan, ex-presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, and Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, among others, were listed as ‘human resources’ to be used in the coup.
Karapetyan was placed in pre-trial detention earlier in June on charges of calling for the usurpation of power in Armenia, following remarks he had made in support of the church amidst ongoing tensions between the government and the Church.
On Tuesday, Karapetyan was transferred from Armavir prison to the National Security Service isolation ward.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
The document published by Civic.am also included discussions revolving around excommunicating Pashinyan and his close associates from the church.
The culmination of all the processes was allegedly planned to be 21 September, Armenia’s Independence Day.
OC Media was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the document.
