From revolution to polarization: the state-church conflict in contemporary Armenia

Abstract

This article analyzes the confrontation between the Armenian government led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) headed by Catholicos Karekin II in the period following the 2018 Velvet Revolution. The study employs event analysis, sociological survey data, andparticipant observation. According to the author, the government's campaign against the Church is driven by several factors: the persistence of revolutionary rather than reformist approaches; pressure exerted on Armenia's ruling elites by external actors after the 2020 Karabakh War; the government's domestic policy of strengthening authoritarian rule and weakening competing institutions, including the Church as a traditional center of influence; and Pashinyan's symbolic politics aimed at reducing the significance of national symbols. The article examines the actions of the government, opposition political forces, and the Church before and after the parliamentary elections, situating these developments within the broader context of conservative and liberal, traditionalist and reformist trends in Armenian politics and society. The author argues that the potential consolidation of opposition parties and Church supporters into a unified political force did not occur. As a result, the opposition was unable to realize its electoral potential in the June 2026 parliamentary elections or to achieve a substantially different balance of power from that established after the 2021 elections. The article concludes that the government is likely to continue its established policy toward the Church. However, the re-election of the ruling party does not imply the loss of public support for the AAC. Under these conditions, the Church will seek to preserve its institutional autonomy and its role as a national, nonpartisan institution. Given the high level of public trust in the AAC and the outcome of the parliamentary elections, further escalation of this political and value-based conflict may deepen social polarization and contribute to growing socio-political tensions in Armenia.