Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, the outspoken head of the provincial diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, joined residents of several Tavush villages in blocking on April 20 a national highway in protest against the government’s decision to unilaterally hand over four adjacent border areas to Baku. A tent camp set up by them there has attracted people from other parts of Armenia keen to disrupt the handover.
Galstanian, who is highly critical of Pashinian and especially his handling of the conflict with Azerbaijan, has become the most influential leader of the protesters, coordinating their actions and trying to drum up nationwide support for them with daily emphatic statements. He has drawn praise from Armenian opposition supporters and strong condemnation from government loyalists.
During a session of the Armenian parliament on Tuesday, Galstanian came under a barrage of insults and attacks by lawmakers representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. In what looked like a coordinated effort, they branded him a Russian spy, accused him of provoking another war with Azerbaijan and even called on Armenian border guards to forcibly draft the 52-year-old archbishop.
Some of them scornfully referred to him as “Mr. Bagrat,” abandoning a courteous and widely accepted form of addressing high-ranking Armenian clerics.
“Whoever calls him ‘Monsignor,’ at least our friends, must stop doing that,” one of them, Narek Grigorian, said.
“Some political forces, clergymen serving the interests of other countries are very busy trying to draw Armenia into a new war,” charged another Civil Control deputy, Emma Palian. “They have received such instructions from abroad.”
Other Pashinian allies as well as media outlets controlled by the ruling party have also accused Galstanian, the church as a whole and opposition forces of working for foreign, presumably Russia intelligence. They have not offered any proof of their allegations.
Andranik Kocharian, the pro-government chairman of the parliament committee on defense and security, suggested that Armenia’s state border guard service set up a new unit made up of Galstanian and other bishops at odds with the government.
Galstanian shrugged off these allegations on Wednesday, saying that his “slanderers” want to “score points with their boss.” He pledged to take them to court.
“But I honestly have no enmity, no hatred, nothing,” Galstanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “It is probably the first time in my life that I am so calm and peaceful because what we say is about the truth and nothing else.”
Opposition leaders have condemned the unprecedented verbal attacks and defended Galstanian. The Echmiadzin-based Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church has also stood by the archbishop and denounced the planned land handover to Azerbaijan.
Pashinian’s relationship with the church and its supreme head, Catholicos Garegin II, in particular has steadily deteriorated during his rule and is very strained now.