Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian continued his push for regime change in Armenia with a visit to Gegharkunik province on Wednesday, ahead of a significant rally planned in Yerevan aimed at increasing pressure on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Leading a motorcade, Galstanian made stops in two local towns before arriving at the border village of Sotk, which suffered heavy shelling by Azerbaijani troops in September 2022 during intense fighting along various sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Several villages in Gegharkunik lost much of their pastures and agricultural land due to Azerbaijani military offensives during that period and in May 2021. These communities, including Sotk, became endangered border areas as a result of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which saw Azerbaijan regain control of the neighboring Kelbajar district.
During a rally in Sotk, Galstanian blamed Pashinian for these events. “My visit today has one purpose: to show the whole disaster that has been brought upon us,” he declared.
“We are facing decisive days, facing a piecemeal surrender of our homeland. Some, led by that liar, will not turn back from the path imposed on them, not negotiated,” he charged, alluding to Pashinyan and his territorial concessions to Azerbaijan, which have fueled the anti-government protests spearheaded by the archbishop.
Galstanian also strongly condemned the Armenian government’s decision to cede several disputed border areas adjacent to villages in the Tavush province to Baku. He had led the provincial diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church before marching to Yerevan last month to demand Pashinian’s resignation.
Pashinyan has rejected these demands, which are backed by a broad spectrum of Armenian opposition groups that have also endorsed Galstanian’s candidacy for the post of prime minister. Pashinyan’s political allies maintain that the protest movement is losing momentum and will soon dissipate.
However, the outspoken archbishop hopes his next rally in Yerevan, scheduled for this Sunday, will prove them wrong. He urged supporters on Wednesday to attend “in very large numbers,” calling it a “preparation for our next, hopefully final and victorious step.”
“If we don’t prevail now … the next generations will curse us 20, 30 years later,” he said in Sotk. “I don’t want to come under that curse.”4o
