Armenian writer expresses support for detained Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan

Writer and publicist Marine Petrosyan on Monday expressed support for Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan outside the Avan District Court of General Jurisdiction in Yerevan, where hearings continue in the senior cleric’s criminal case.

Ajapahyan, the leader of the Shirak Diocese, was recently found guilty of making public calls for the overthrow of the government. The court convened an additional hearing to discuss aggravating and mitigating circumstances before determining his sentence.

Speaking to reporters, Petrosyan said she valued “all those who can organize real resistance” against what she described as a destructive national agenda. She noted that Ajapahyan had become a key figure in that resistance.

The writer accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of undermining Armenia’s state foundations and abandoning Artsakh, warning that the country risked becoming a “protectorate of Turkey”.

“The church resisted this and that’s why I am here to support it,” she said. “At the helm of our ship is a man steering it to sink. We must stop this by every means possible. What Ajapahyan has proposed is not the seizure of power but the salvation of our homeland.”