Former MP decries PACE resolution over church tensions

Former Armenian MP and special envoy Edmon Marukyan has sharply criticized a recent resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), saying it misrepresents the nature of tensions between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Marukyan said the resolution’s wording suggested that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church were engaged in a dispute as equal institutions. “In reality, the government has attacked the church with all its institutions, leading to the imprisonment of numerous clergymen,” he wrote on social media on Wednesday. “The church, naturally, cannot respond proportionately.”

He argued that the use of the word “between” to describe the rift was misleading, as it implied a balanced conflict. “This wording is wrong, and we will certainly have a detailed discussion about it in Strasbourg,” Marukyan added.