Due to the appropriate behavior of the representatives of the Church, the dialogue was unsuccessful: Harutyunyan

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church's leadership, in the context of managing political processes, states that the ruling political force and the government interact with the church through relevant political tools. This was stated by the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Arayik Harutyunyan, during a discussion on the annual report on the execution of the state budget for 2023 in the National Assembly.

The Secretary of the opposition 'Armenia' faction, Artzvik Minasyan, inquired whether there were plans for support programs for the church in 2023, and questioned the potential taxation of the church. Harutyunyan informed that after 2018, it was supposed that there would be discussions between the government and the Armenian Apostolic Church at the suggestion of the Prime Minister, which would resolve certain issues, including those related to the tax field and support.

“But, unfortunately, due to the appropriate behavior of the representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church, that dialogue did not succeed,” said Harutyunyan. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of such a dialogue in the future.

“Simply put, when the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church takes on the management of political processes, the authorities—the political force currently in power and the government—interact with the institution through relevant political tools,” noted the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister.

In response to the deputy's question regarding the incident of obstructing the entry of the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians into the Sardarapat Memorial Complex, Harutyunyan replied, “When a leader of an institution, in this case, the Patriarch, assumes leadership of a political movement, and representatives of that movement exhibit actions that violate public order, and issue threats against law enforcement and various representatives, the bodies ensuring the security of the May 28 event must adequately respond to determine whether the group entering the area with a banner intended to provoke the event like their other colleagues. And when it became clear that they only needed to go up and leave the area within 2-3 minutes, they were allowed to pass into the territory of the Sardarapat Memorial Complex.”