Armenian PM’s crackdown is worry for all Christians

This is normally a time of great joy for Christians around the world as we come together with our church families and relatives. Yet, as I think about our community, I think of those under attack. The persecution in China. Those being murdered in Nigeria and west Africa. The systematic eradication of Christianity in the Middle East and north Africa.

It is vital that those nations of Christian heritage do not turn their backs on their history. I am deeply concerned by what is happening in Armenia, the world’s oldest Christian country.

More than 1,700 years ago, Armenia officially adopted Christianity as its state religion and its faith has stayed strong ever since. It has resisted brutal occupation from Safavid Iran, the Ottoman Empire and Turkey and then the Soviet Union.

It is once again under attack, this time from within. Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has launched a bitter assault on the Armenian Apostolic Church — despite being responsible for its protection.

The church, supported by 90 per cent of Armenians, is being treated as if it were the political opposition. Pashinyan is following the pattern of authoritarian leaders: identify your rivals as enemies of the state, then use the power of the state to tear them down.

Several Armenian bishops have been arrested on fabricated charges. Pashinyan calls for the removal of Karekin II, the Catholicos or supreme leader of the Armenian church, and is using the arrests to pressure clergy members to remove mentions of the Catholicos from their service.

Samvel Karapetyan, the church’s most prominent backer, has also been arrested for his vocal support in the face of this state campaign. The government has seized control of his national electric company, as it has many of the church’s assets, as punishment.

Armenia’s enemies are seeing this division. Turkey continues to deny its historic genocide of Armenians and Azerbaijan denies responsibility for its actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which led to 120,000 Armenian Christians fleeing for their lives.

Armenia can ill-afford this division as it sits precariously between hostile states, each with their own claims to its lands. I can only pray that Pashinyan decides to change his mind and reconciles with the Armenian church. Christians across the world must make their voices heard too.

Danny Kruger is a Reform UK MP