Narek Karapetyan slams Pashinyan's anti-church campaign

Narek Karapetyan, co-founder of the Mer Dzevov (Our Way) movement, has accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of disrespecting national traditions and the Armenian Apostolic Church on Christmas.

His comments followed a statement on "church reforms" by Pashinyan and ten senior clerics whom he described as "traitors".

“On Holy Christmas, Pashinyan decides to trample on our traditions and confront the church,” Karapetyan wrote on Facebook late on Sunday.

He also pointed out that the prime minister made the statement from a residence donated to the state by detained businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, where Pashinyan "ironically continues to live".

“Our country needs to restore unity and strengthen respect for our traditions – not merely in words,” Karapetyan added.