The Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church are at odds with each other, and the World Council of Churches has called upon the government in Yerevan to respect religious freedom.

The Geneva-based WCC has expressed "deep concern" about the arrest of senior clergy and other law enforcement actions.

World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev. Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern regarding recent developments in Armenia involving the Armenian Apostolic Church, including reported law enforcement actions at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the detention of senior clergy.

"The Armenian Apostolic Church holds a unique and revered place in the spiritual, cultural, and historical life of the Armenian people," Pillay said.

"Reports of force being used within sacred spaces and the detention of clergy raise significant concerns about the protection of religious freedom, the sanctity of worship, and the autonomy of religious institutions."

He called upon the government of Armenia to ensure the protection, dignity and legal rights of all religious leaders and institutions.

Pillay also urged the government to refrain from actions or statements that could be interpreted as targeting religious bodies or fueling public antagonism; uphold the principles of religious freedom, due process, and the peaceful exercise of faith.

He also encouraged an open and constructive dialogue between state institutions and religious communities.

"The government speaks of a coup and arrests two archbishops and a prominent businessman, while the opposition cries foul, denouncing political repression. In the background, the geopolitical balance and negotiation with Azerbaijan," the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa reported on June 11.

The portal reported that with 11 months before next year's parliamentary elections, the political environment in the country is more tense than any vote before it.

It reported that on June 25, the National Security Service detained more than a dozen individuals accused of plotting a coup to oust Prime Minister Pashinyan from power.

It said that days earlier, Russian-Armenian businessman Samuel Karapetyan was detained on the same charge. Among the latest wave of arrests was Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a cleric who last year led protests against Pashinyan.

Christian Today cited Armenian prosecutors pointing to a number of statements made by the archbishop appearing to call for a coup.

"In one, he told News.am, 'I called for a coup to save the country from this madman, they are not saving it, they are also guilty of all this. This is not just a call, it must be done.'"

The Armenian said that he is attempting to save the church from "anti-Christian" and "anti-state" groups that it is claimed have taken over the church.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concerns about developments in Armenia, but his counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, responded by instructing him to stay out of the country's domestic affairs, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa reported.

According to the European Conservative, Pashinyan has been at loggerheads with the Church since its head, Catholicos Garegin II, began calling for his resignation following Armenia's disastrous 2020 military defeat to arch-foe Azerbaijan over the then-disputed Karabakh region.

The dispute escalated after Azerbaijan seized complete control of the region in 2023.

Pashinyan started pushing an unpopular peace deal with Azerbaijan that would essentially renounce Yerevan's claims to an area many Armenians see as their ancestral homeland.

"Law enforcement officers have foiled a large-scale and sinister plan by the 'criminal-oligarchic clergy' to destabilise the situation in the Republic of Armenia and seize power," Pashinyan wrote on his Telegram channel early Wednesday.

The Apostolic Church wields considerable influence in Armenia, which in the fourth century became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

The European Union has stayed out of the spat.