AMISP releases white paper on the separation of church and state in Armenia
Watertown, Mass. — The Aram Manoukian Institute for Strategic Planning (AMISP) has released a new white paper examining the deterioration of church-state relations in Armenia and what the authors describe as an escalating campaign by the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (AAHC).
Titled “A Church Under Siege: Armenia’s Unlawful Campaign to Silence the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church,” the August 2026 report was authored by John Eibner, Ph.D.; Joel Veldkamp, Ph.D.; and Peter Flew, Ph.D., as part of AMISP’s Policy Recommendation Series.
The 32-page report examines the Church’s status under Armenia’s constitution, domestic law, and the European Convention on Human Rights and assesses recent government actions against those legal standards. It argues that efforts to interfere in the internal governance of the Church, including attempts to remove Catholicos Karekin II, the detention and prosecution of senior clergy and efforts to encourage internal divisions, represent impermissible state interference in religious autonomy.
“The significance of this issue extends well beyond the relationship between the government and the Church,” the report states in substance. The AAHC remains one of Armenia’s most historically important and publicly trusted institutions, with recent polling cited in the report showing 77.7% of respondents expressing a positive view of the Church. The authors argue that weakening the independence of such an institution has broader consequences for pluralism, civil society, democratic checks on political authority and Armenia’s national cohesion.
The white paper traces the deterioration of church-state relations back to the early period following the 2018 Velvet Revolution and documents what it calls a gradual progression from the political and rhetorical marginalization of the Church to direct challenges to its leadership and institutional autonomy. It examines the arrests and detentions of prominent clerics and lay supporters and contends that, viewed collectively, these actions constitute a targeted pattern rather than isolated law enforcement matters.
Of particular concern, the report analyzes the government’s stated national security and political justifications against the standards set out in Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The authors conclude that Armenian authorities have not demonstrated the legal necessity or proportionality required to justify state interference with the internal affairs of a religious organization. European human rights jurisprudence, the report notes, places particular importance on religious communities’ ability to govern themselves without arbitrary state intervention.
The report also places the dispute within a broader debate over Armenia’s national direction. It examines Prime Minister Pashinyan’s “Real Armenia” concept and raises concerns that efforts to redefine Armenian national identity, revise the constitution and diminish the public role of the Church could weaken institutions that have historically connected the Republic of Armenia with the wider Armenian nation and diaspora. The authors further argue that these developments should be considered in the context of ongoing pressure from Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as the post-2020 transformation of Armenia’s security environment.
The white paper is especially critical of the limited response from Western governments and institutions. While Armenia’s democratic development and closer relations with Europe and the United States have received considerable Western support, the authors contend that religious freedom, institutional autonomy and rule-of-law standards must be applied consistently, including when violations are alleged by a government viewed as geopolitically aligned with the West.
The report also highlights five policy priorities previously advanced by Christian Solidarity International for Armenia’s post-election government: respect the religious freedom and autonomy of the Armenian Apostolic Church; work for the unconditional release of Armenian Christian hostages held in Baku; advocate for preservation of Armenian Christian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh; release political prisoners in Armenia; and support the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno-Karabakh.
AMISP’s new report ultimately argues that the question confronting Armenia is larger than a dispute between Prime Minister Pashinyan and the Catholicos. It is a test of whether independent institutions, including those capable of challenging government policy, will continue to enjoy the legal autonomy necessary in a democratic state.
As the report concludes, weakening the Armenian Apostolic Church does not strengthen Armenian sovereignty if the result is the erosion of another independent national institution and the further concentration of political authority.
The full report, “A Church Under Siege: Armenia’s Unlawful Campaign to Silence the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church,” is available at the Institute’s website.
