Armenian Prosecutor’s Office to probe clergy recording

The Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office has announced that a leaked audio recording allegedly featuring senior clerics will be examined as part of an ongoing investigation.

The recording, circulated by pro-government media, reportedly captures a 2023 conversation between Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan and former aide to Catholicos Karekin II, Aghan Abbot (now Levon Yernjakyan). In the recording, Yernjakyan claims the catholicos urged him to take his family and join anti-government rallies against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Following the incident, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin announced on December 4, 2023, that Aghan Abbot had been defrocked at his own request and returned to lay status.