Coup d'etat: in Armenia, it was reported about the exposure of the opposition conspiracy

There is a new round of political crisis in Armenia. The Investigative Committee of the country reported on the exposure of the coup d'etat, which was allegedly prepared by representatives of the Church and the opposition. After that, mass searches and detentions of opponents of the current authorities began. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

What happened

The Investigative Committee of Armenia announced the exposure of a coup plot in the country. According to security officials, the leader of the rebels was the head of the "Holy Struggle" movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who organized several thousands of rallies in Yerevan last year. The Investigative Committee believes that after those actions, Prime Minister Pashinyan's opponents allegedly decided that they would not be able to take power peacefully, and therefore began preparing violent actions.

The investigation claims that since the beginning of this year, the conspirators have started forming strike groups. The goal was allegedly to create 200-250 autonomous units of up to 25 people each, based on former military and police officers. "Each cell was going to have its own task, no connection with other similar groups was supposed," the UK says.

It is emphasized that by the summer of this year, about 1,000 people had been recruited. According to the security forces, a rally was to begin on the appointed day in front of the Armenian government building in order to distract the authorities. At the same time, strike units in various parts of the country were supposed to take "active action," including allegedly planning to set off explosions and arson, open fire on buildings and block roads. Presumably, all this would have caused panic and disrupted the work of government agencies.

As evidence, the Investigative Committee published recordings of conversations between the alleged conspirators. "Everything should start at the same time in ten places, the police forces will be scattered, and we will be able to do everything quickly: we leave in the morning, we finish in the evening," says an unknown man in the video. Another replies that "the toughest moment will be with the parliament's entourage." Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan then announced that the security forces had succeeded in thwarting the sinister plan of the "criminal oligarchic clergy."

What happened next

After that, searches and detentions of Church officials and representatives of the opposition began in Armenia. So, the investigative actions took place at Bagrat Galstanyan's house, and later he was taken away by employees of the National Security Service. "Over the past year, political processes have taken place, actions have taken place, and it is clear that there have been calls for individuals to be active. But what is criminally punishable here? Apparently, a new escalation has begun, they will create a show to simulate the capture of terrorists," said his lawyer Sergey Harutyunyan.

Investigative actions also took place in the offices of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party and a number of former and current deputies. "I have already been through this several times and I can say that they will achieve nothing with such actions. This is a manifestation of the authorities' fear, because they understand that our patriotic people cannot and do not want to put up with what is happening," said acting parliamentarian Artur Sargsyan.

In addition, several prominent public figures were among the detainees, including reserve Colonel Mihran Makhsudyan, former governor of the Syunik region Vahe Hakobyan and businessman Tigran Galstyan. "In total, the investigative actions affected dozens of people, the exact number is being determined. There are not enough lawyers for everyone, because the CPC prohibits us from working with several detainees in one criminal case," said lawyer Ruben Melikyan.

In the opposition, everything that is happening is called a staging and another wave of repression. "I got the impression that they just reproduced on paper their own plan of action from 2018, when they were able to seize power. Now they attribute their own actions to others. If we evaluate all this as a lawyer, we will not see any illegal actions," said MP Elinar Vardanyan.

Another parliamentarian, Artur Khachatryan, recalled that Prime Minister Pashinyan had recently flown to Turkey. "It is possible that some actions against the Armenian patriots were coordinated there. After the publication of this shameful piece of paper — whatever you want to call it: a coup plan, a farce, a pamphlet, a feuilleton, a satire — it became obvious that repression could not be avoided. In any case, no one can take away the people's right to fight," he said.

In general, the internal political situation in Armenia has noticeably worsened recently. For more than a month, Prime Minister Pashinyan has been regularly criticizing representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). One of the main claims is the alleged massive violation of the vow of celibacy by priests. It is believed that the real cause of the conflict was the patriotic position of Catholicos Garegin II, his support for opposition forces.

In mid-June, Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian businessman and billionaire, was detained in Yerevan. In an interview, he expressed his support for the AAC and promised to respond in a special way to the attacks of the authorities. This statement became the reason for the initiation of a case on public calls for the seizure of power. The authorities also launched the process of nationalizing the Electric Networks company owned by Karapetyan.

There are two main opinions in the Armenian opposition about what is happening. Some believe that the upcoming parliamentary elections are to blame. Allegedly, Pashinyan and his team are clearing the political space of opponents in the hope of retaining power. Others believe that the ruling team is acting in the interests of Azerbaijan and Turkey, which would like to suppress the Armenian patriotic forces.

What the experts say

Russian academic Artur Ataev recalls that Nikol Pashinyan himself came to power as a result of street protests.

— He understands that the same scenario can happen again, but against him. There is a strong protest potential in the country. The Prime Minister is trying to take preventive measures to protect himself and his political clan. But it is unlikely that he will succeed. I think sooner or later there will be demonstrations in the center of Yerevan again, which will lead to a change of elites," he explains.

Armenian political analyst Tigran Kocharyan believes that power is leaving Pashinyan's hands.

— I note not only the large-scale harassment of opponents, but also the hysterical, boorish style in which he began to communicate. Speaking specifically about the current case, a gross violation of the secrecy of the investigation is striking. We see some records and documents, the authenticity of which has yet to be proven. Nevertheless, all this is already being thrown into the public space in the hope, apparently, of forming a certain public opinion," he emphasizes.