An outspoken priest leading Armenia’s latest protest movement vowed renewed efforts to remove Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian from power as he continued to tour Armenia’s regions this month.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, who emerged as the leader of antigovernment protests last spring when tens of thousands of Armenians took to the streets to oppose a controversial border-demarcation deal with Azerbaijan, signaled that the movement needed to rethink its format after a violent police crackdown on its supporters in front of the parliament building on June 12.
Galstanian, who has accused Pashinian of making unilateral territorial concessions to Azerbaijan, calling for his resignation, has spent the past several weeks visiting towns and villages across Armenia and holding meetings with his supporters.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service during one visit on August 4, Galstanian said active antigovernment campaigns pushing for Pashinian’s resignation would resume in early September.
He did not disclose specific actions but mentioned that the second stage of actions would commence with an indoor meeting, rather than an outdoor public rally, where “ways to remove Pashinian” would be discussed with supporters.
“What will the second stage of the struggle be? The anti-Christ must leave in a very good way,” Galstanian said, referring to Pashinian, as he met with supporters in Armenia’s northwestern Shirak Province.
He added that the methods of the struggle would change as they had “drawn conclusions” from the government’s actions.
“We have seen a bloodthirsty anti-Christ, a blood-craving government, and have decided to change our tactics and methods so as not to give [the authorities] the pleasure of having that blood,” the archbishop said, without elaborating.
Galstanian again countered claims that his antigovernment movement had lost momentum or lacked unity regarding the issue of the prime minister’s resignation. He asserted that support for the movement had increased, claiming that more people were joining both inside and outside the country.
“This is an ongoing struggle, an unceasing struggle,” he said, adding that the movement will continue “until I’m dead and the people of this struggle are extinct.”
Pashinian, who has also toured several communities across Armenia in recent weeks, mostly receiving an outpouring of support from residents, including in border villages, has not commented on Galstanian’s recent statements.
Pashinian allies, meanwhile, continue to dismiss the archbishop-led movement as unpopular.
Arpi Davoyan, a lawmaker representing Pashinian’s ruling Civil Contract party, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Galstanian’s statements about renewed protests neither worried the government nor needed to be taken seriously.
“Why should I be worried that some unsuccessful priest is wandering all over Armenia, trying to convince everyone of something by spreading lies and falsehoods? Should I now be worried that this person has announced the second stage of his falsehood?” she said.