Kocharyan says Armenia's identity pillars 'deformed' amid campaign against church

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said on Tuesday that one of the nation’s core identity pillars has been “deformed” as he accused the Armenian leadership of mounting a campaign against the church.

Speaking at a campaign event as the prime ministerial candidate of the Hayastan alliance, Kocharyan argued that only a few years ago it would have been unimaginable for any party to include opposition to the church in its platform. “If one party had written even one inappropriate sentence about the church in its program, it would have received 0.0000 percent,” he said.

Kocharyan claimed the situation has shifted dramatically, pointing to the government “propaganda machine” working in favor of such positions. He singled out Armenia’s Public TV Company, funded by the state budget, as the main driver of this campaign.

“The propaganda machine can deform many things. Today, one of the most important factors of our identity has been deformed,” Kocharyan said.