CSI says Armenia is persecuting its church

By AI, Created 11:16 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Christian Solidarity International released a report on May 4, 2026, in Zurich alleging state pressure on the Armenian Apostolic Church and listing known political prisoners in Armenia for the first time by an international human rights group. The report lands as EU and European leaders gather in Yerevan and warns that the conflict has broader implications for Armenia’s democracy, church independence and regional peace talks.

Why it matters: - The report frames the dispute between Armenia’s government and the Armenian Apostolic Church as a test of religious freedom, political rights and democratic backsliding. - CSI says the case could affect Armenia’s stability as leaders pursue a peace deal with Azerbaijan and manage the fallout from the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh. - The report also puts European and American policymakers on notice to respond to alleged persecution and detention of clergy and church-linked figures.

What happened: - Christian Solidarity International released a new report on May 4, 2026, in Zurich. - The report says the Armenian Apostolic Church is facing state-sponsored persecution of unusual depth and intensity. - CSI published a list of known political prisoners in Armenia, describing it as the first list of its kind from an international human rights group. - The report was written by Peter Flew, an international lawyer and historian focused on religious freedom in Eastern Europe, the Baltic states and the Caucasus. - Flew’s report is based on a fact-finding mission to Armenia. - CSI released the report as European leaders gathered in Yerevan for the 8th European Political Community Summit on May 4 and the first EU-Armenia Summit on May 5.

The details: - The report says Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has tried to subordinate the church to state control. - The political prisoners listed in the report include clergymen, relatives of clergy, podcasters, church workers and others detained by Armenian authorities. - CSI compiled the list with consultation from the Armenian Center for Political Rights. - Dr. Joel Veldkamp, CSI’s director for public advocacy, said European leaders attending the summits should know they are within walking distance of the prison where Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is being held on manufactured charges. - Since May 2025, Pashinyan has publicly campaigned to force Catholicos Karekin II to resign. - The report says the government has arrested one-third of Armenia’s archbishops. - The report says the government imposed travel bans on the Catholicos and other senior church leaders. - The report says the government also tried to foment a schism inside the church. - On March 12, 2026, the International Observatory for Democracy in Armenia warned about democratic backsliding in Armenia and cited the apparent weaponization of the judiciary and security forces against political opponents. - The watchdog’s executive team includes Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch. - The report says the campaign against the church began in May 2025 after Karekin II spoke at a conference in Switzerland organized by the World Council of Churches. - At that conference, Karekin II called for Armenian refugees from Nagorno Karabakh to be allowed to return home. - Nagorno Karabakh was ethnically cleansed by Azerbaijan in 2023. - Pashinyan has made signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan the centerpiece of his national agenda. - Pashinyan has called discussion of the refugees’ right of return dangerous for peace. - In a March address to the European Parliament, Pashinyan accused church leaders of trying to start a new war with Azerbaijan. - CSI President John Eibner says the campaign against the church should be understood as part of Turkey and Azerbaijan’s effort to weaken the Armenian nation and reduce resistance to a Turkish-led regional order. - Eibner argues that the Armenian Apostolic Church is the main obstacle to Turkey and Azerbaijan’s plans. - The report recommends that European and American policymakers affirm the church’s right to choose its own leaders without state interference. - The report also calls for the release of detained clergy and other political prisoners. - CSI urges policymakers to engage with independent human rights groups in Armenia. - The report supports the Swiss parliament’s Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh.

Between the lines: - CSI is tying Armenia’s domestic church dispute to a broader regional contest involving Azerbaijan and Turkey. - The timing of the report, alongside major European summits in Yerevan, appears designed to increase pressure on visiting leaders. - The report blends legal analysis, historical context and human rights advocacy to argue that the church is being targeted as a political institution, not only a religious one.

What’s next: - CSI is pressing European and American officials to speak publicly in support of church independence and against political detention. - The report’s recommendations point to continued advocacy around political prisoners, church autonomy and the Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh. - The dispute is likely to remain tied to Armenia’s peace process with Azerbaijan and to broader questions about democratic governance in the country.

The bottom line: - CSI says Armenia’s treatment of the Armenian Apostolic Church is a human rights crisis with consequences far beyond the church itself.