Armenian PM offers to drop his pants in front of head of church amid coup buzz

Armenia is seeing a political confrontation unheard of, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reportedly offering to “expose himself” before the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church to prove his Christian faith by dropping his trousers and showing that he is uncircumcised. The PM’s retort came amid accusations of a coup plot involving powerful senior clergy members.

This is the latest clash between Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has long opposed the Armenian PM’s policies, particularly his peace negotiations with Azerbaijan following Armenia’s military defeats in 2020 and 2023. Senior clerics have repeatedly called for Pashniyan’s resignation, calling him a traitor for conceding territory to Azerbaijan after Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and the 2023 collapse of Armenian-populated regions.

The Nagorno-Karabakh war erupted due to ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region demanding independence with Armenia’s support. Significant territories in the region were conceded to Azerbaijan, which was militarily aided by Turkey.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s 2023 military offensive forced the surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian forces, triggering the total depopulation of the region as over 1,00,000 ethnic Armenians fled their ancestral homes.

The church viewed these defeats as humiliating and the conceding of territories in 2020 as a historic betrayal.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has religious undertones too, and many see it as a Christians versus Muslims issue.

Interestingly, the developments come just a year before parliamentary elections in Armenia in June 2026, when Pashniyan is under extreme political pressure over his peace deal with Azerbaijan, which is quite unpopular among hardliners, and the Church’s influence could sway public sentiment.

The pants-dropping remark, made during a heated parliamentary session, came as authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan last week. Galstanyan has been a vocal critic of Pashinyan. His shocking response came after a spokesperson for the church said,”I believe that our Apostolic Holy Church must immediately cleanse itself of those false ‘believers’ who are traitors to the nation, have dishonoured the memory of their ancestors, broken the vow of baptism, and replaced the seal of the Holy Cross with the sign of circumcision”.

Responding to this, PM Pashinyan said, “I am ready to accept Ktrich Nersisyan and his spokesman and prove otherwise”.

News Agency Reuters reported that Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan was also detained last week. Both Galstanyan and Karapetyan were accused of orchestrating a violent attempt to overthrow the Armenian government of Prime Minister Pashinyan.

The Church denounced the detentions as politically motivated, while Pashinyan’s government insisted it had thwarted a “large and sinister plan” by a “criminal-oligarchic clergy” to seize power in Armenia.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee claims that Galstanyan and 15 others had recruited 1,000 people, including ex-soldiers and police personnel, to block roads, incite violence, and paralyse the government. Authorities allege they stockpiled weapons and planned to form assault groups for mass disturbances.

Galstanyan, who led major anti-government protests in 2023, was ordered to two months of pre-trial detention on charges of terrorism and overthrowing the government. His lawyers dismissed the case as “political persecution”.

Meanwhile, Karapetyan, a billionaire and a major church benefactor, was detained after vowing to intervene in the government’s “campaign against the church”. PM Pashinyan’s spokesperson accused the billionaire of following a “classic manual from the north”, a veiled reference to Russia. Hours later, Pashinyan announced plans to nationalise Karapetyan’s Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA).

Notably, the Armenian Church enjoys strong ties to Russia, and Pashinyan has increasingly accused Moscow of backing his opponents, including former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, who were implicated in the alleged coup plan.

Analysts warn the standoff risks further destabilisation, especially if Russia intensifies its involvement.

Tensions spilled into the streets when security forces attempted to detain Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, triggering scuffles outside Armenia’s holiest cathedral. The Church condemned the confrontation as a “day of national shame”.

Meanwhile, Russia has stepped in to defend Karapetyan, with its foreign ministry vowing to protect the rights of the “Russian national”. Billboards supporting the oligarch appeared in Moscow, signalling Kremlin-aligned opposition to Pashinyan.

For now, Pashinyan appears defiant, but his “challenge to the Catholicos” shows just how personal and volatile this conflict has become.

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