Garegin and senior clergymen accompanying him had to break through three police cordons to lay flowers and pray at the Sardarapat memorial on the 106th anniversary of the proclamation of the first independent Armenian republic. Pashinian led an official ceremony there 30 minutes later, at around 3 p.m.
The ceremony had been scheduled to take place in the morning. Pashinian was thought to have cancelled it after hundreds of antigovernment protesters led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian gathered at the memorial late on Monday and spent the night there. But the premier unexpectedly arrived at Sardarapat in the afternoon.
The unprecedented police actions were strongly condemned by the church’s Echmiadzin-based Mother See and Diaspora dioceses as well as opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government.
Pashinian claimed that police officials at the scene “tried to clarify whether His Holiness has come to continue disruptive and provocative actions, initiated by his political supporters and the [protest] movement led by him, or for another purpose.” He said they let Garegin through after receiving assurances that Garegin’s visit to Sardarapat “only has a ceremonial purpose.”
Videos of the incident show no such conversation between the officials and Garegin or his entourage.
“The police did not give explanations or try to clarify anything,” insisted Rev. Yesayi Artenian, head of the Mother See’s press office. “They just blocked the alley and wouldn’t let us through.”
Artenian also told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Garegin’s office had notified Pashinian’s protocol service in advance that the Catholicos will visit the memorial in the afternoon. The service confirmed, for its part, that Pashinian will go there in the morning, he said.
Meanwhile, Galstanian described the police actions as “blasphemous” as hundreds of people led by him rallied outside the Interior Ministry building in Yerevan on Wednesday morning. They also protested against what they called instances of police brutality against participants of ongoing Galstanian-led protests aimed at forcing Pashinian to resign.
Galstanian demanded that Interior Minister Vahe Ghazarian come out of the building and talk to him publicly. Ghazarian said through aides that he is only ready to receive the outspoken archbishop in his office. The latter refused the offer. The crowd led by Galstanian left the scene after blocking entrances to the ministry building for nearly five hours.
The protest appeared to prevent Ghazarian from presenting an annual report to members of the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security. He sent one of his deputies, Arpine Sargsian, instead.
Sargsian refused to comment on the minister’s absence when she appeared before the committee. Opposition members of the panel decried the no-show, provoking a shouting match with their pro-government colleagues.
“Is Vahe Ghazarian afraid of coming to the committee meeting?” said Gegham Manukian of the opposition Hayastan alliance.
“No, nobody is scared of you,” countered the committee chairman, Andranik Kocharian.
The Armenian Church officially voiced support for Galstanian and his supporters on May 7 as they marched from the Tavush province to Yerevan to protest against Pashinian’s territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Garegin’s office announced on Monday that Galstanian has been relieved of his “ecclesiastical and administrative” duties at his own request. The 53-year-old archbishop, who until then headed the church’s Tavush Diocese, retained his episcopal rank.