On May 30, at the very beginning of the current phase of confrontation between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the country’s ruling party, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made his infamous Facebook post: “Reverend, go on and keep banging your uncle’s wife – what do you want from me?”

What initially seemed like a worrying verbal attack by the prime minister – marked by elements of sexism and violation of privacy – soon evolved into a large-scale campaign against the Church through the weaponization of law enforcement and the judicial system.

Pashinyan’s vulgar Facebook post took on new significance on October 24, when a Telegram channel named “Armenian WikiLeaks” published several short videos allegedly showing Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, in intimate situations with a woman. The videos, filmed in a bathroom and a living room, were accompanied by a claim that the woman was the archbishop’s uncle’s wife.