Mother See condemns Karapetyan’s arrest

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has issued a strong statement denouncing the arrest of businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, describing it as another manifestation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s anti-church policies.

"We have just learned that the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, clearly yielding to overt political pressure, has decided to detain national philanthropist Mr. Samvel Karapetyan.

The prosecution against Mr. Karapetyan is another expression of the prime minister’s anti-church actions, aiming to strip the Armenian Church of the support of its faithful through fear and intimidation.

We firmly condemn this disgraceful conduct, seeing it as a blow both to the reputation of the Republic of Armenia and to the Armenian Church.

We extend our full support to Mr. Karapetyan and the Karapetyan family, praying for the Lord’s help and protection upon them," the statement said.

Father Grigor Minasyan also responded, writing: "An Armenian without the Church becomes the past—we are beyond the warning stage now."

"We are on the threshold of an existential war, waged against the spiritual identity of the Armenian people. This is not a short-term crisis, but a systemic, organized attack, executed with the active involvement of Armenia’s current leadership. Through the abuse of state power and official positions, this war is being fought from within.

The enemy is no longer outside our borders. He is an official, speaks with state authority, acts as a leader of the people, but serves an anti-Armenian agenda. Garegin Nzhdeh’s words powerfully resonate today: ‘The internal enemy has weakened the Armenian arm. He led foreign forces into the Armenian Highlands. His betrayal often tilted the scales in favor of the enemy,’" he wrote.

According to him, "this government has launched an open campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church using public declarations, legislative pressure, and false moral propaganda."

"But the Armenian people are not deceived. They see. They feel. They discern who is a crusader and who is a crucifier. The people know who stands before the Cross in prayer—and who pelts it with stones.

This war has no political solution. It ends only in judgment. Those who persecute the Cross today will stand before it tomorrow—naked, empty, and defenseless. Without legacy, without hope.

They will not win.

They will be condemned.

And the Church—by sacred severity—will call them ‘the condemned among the eternally tormented’," the post concluded.

In the early hours of June 18, businessman Samvel Karapetyan left his Yerevan residence with law enforcement officials. He was later interrogated by Armenia’s Investigative Committee and that evening was detained for two months on charges of publicly calling for the seizure of government powers.

Hours before his arrest, Karapetyan had declared his support for the Armenian Apostolic Church: "I stand with our Church, with our people. No matter how much they try to defame us—no power grid matters to me. Everything will be fine. The people will have their say, and they’ll realize their mistake."

In response, Pashinyan wrote: "Why have the promiscuous ‘clerics’ and their equally promiscuous 'benefactors' become so active? Never mind—we’ll shut them down again. This time for good." He later added that the Electric Networks of Armenia must be nationalized urgently.