Human rights defender Ruben Melikyan wrote on Facebook that people must “be ready at any moment to go to the Mother See to protect our sacred sanctities.”

“I am certain the supreme traitor will soon organize an attack on the Catholicosate. I am also sure that the main assault force will consist of so-called ‘law enforcement officers’ who receive bonuses for political persecution. Naturally, they will be in civilian clothes.

We must be prepared to drop all our tasks at any moment and head to the Mother See to protect our sacred sanctities, our Armenian identity, and our God-given right to breathe and exist,” the post reads.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted on Facebook that “it is necessary to take concrete steps to liberate the Catholicosate of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and organize new Catholicosal elections.” He added that a Coordination Group should be formed to handle organizational matters and stated he would personally take responsibility for selecting its first ten members.