Armenian authorities on Wednesday arrested a prominent Christian cleric, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, along with 13 other people and charged them with orchestrating a plot to overthrow the government. In a statement reported by Reuters, Armenia's Investigative Committee said it had filed criminal charges against Galstanyan and 15 others whom they said had "acquired the means and tools necessary to commit a terrorist attack and seize power". A total of 14 individuals have been arrested, investigators said.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on his Telegram channel that the authorities had thwarted a "large and sinister plan by the 'criminal-oligarchic clergy'" to take power in Armenia. Parliamentary opposition parties claim the government invented the story. They say the coup plan reflects the authorities’ own fears.
Galstanyan's arrest is part of a growing confrontation between Pashinyan and the powerful Armenian Apostolic Church, who have traded increasingly bitter allegations in recent weeks ahead of elections scheduled for next year, according to Reuters. Some senior clerics have previously called for Pashinyan to step down over Armenia's military defeats against Azerbaijan.
JAMnews reported that the case was initiated by the Prosecutor General’s Office following a publication on Civic.am, a news outlet affiliated with the government, which disclosed details of the alleged coup plot. The document titled Exclusive: The Opposition’s Coup Plan, consisting of a 7-page PDF document. “Our reliable sources within the opposition provided us with the plan. It outlines step-by-step actions, a list of resources, and key figures,” the article stated.
According to the document, the plan to remove Nikol Pashinyan from power included eight stages. The decisive phase, demanding Pashinyan’s resignation, was scheduled for 20–21 September under the slogan “Step down so we can live.”
The article names individuals allegedly linked to the coup plan, including former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, as well as businessmen Samvel Karapetyan, Gagik Tsarukyan, and Samvel Aleksanyan.
Last week, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan was detained on accusations of making public calls to usurp power after he accused the government of waging a campaign against the church and said he would act "in his own way" to stop it, according to state agency Armenpress.
Lawyers for Karapetyan say the businessman denies wrongdoing. A lawyer for Galstanyan, Sergei Arutyunyan, told journalists on Wednesday that his client was being unfairly criminalised by the government, which he said was seeking to "create a smokescreen and simulate that they've caught a terrorist group."
Pashinyan rose to power on a wave of street protests in 2018, but came under heavy domestic pressure after major losses to Azerbaijan in a brief war in 2020. In 2023, Azerbaijan retook the whole of the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians had enjoyed de facto independence for decades.
Tapping into popular anger over defeats and territorial concessions, Galstanyan and his supporters led days of street protests last summer to demand the removal of Pashinyan.
Detailing the charges that he faces now, authorities, quoted by Reuters, alleged that Galstanyan and associates had recruited over 1,000 people, mainly former soldiers and police officers, to block roads, paralyse traffic, incite violence and shut off the internet, with the goal of destabilising the government and seizing power.
The Investigative Committee published audio recordings purporting to show Galstanyan and others discussing plans for the alleged coup attempt, as well as a photograph showing firearms and other weapons they said were discovered during searches.
Pashinyan, who faces parliamentary elections in June 2026, has moved towards signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, although tensions between the two countries remain high and the number of reported ceasefire violations has surged this year.
