For 30 years, while Azerbaijani territories were under occupation, fruitless negotiations were repeatedly held, and France, Russia, and the United States, as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and with a mandate to achieve peace and liberate our territories from occupation, were unable to force Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijani territory, stated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking at the opening of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Baku.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Catholicos of All Armenians Ktrich Nersisyan planned to carry out a military coup in the country.
"If Ktrich Nersisyan considers the arrest of Vazgen Galstanyan and Gevorg Ajapakhyan illegal, it means that he shares the ideology and plans of the above-mentioned persons to carry out a military coup, shoot people under the walls, and create chaos in the country," Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page.
Recall that in early July, Pashinyan publicly appealed to the clergy with a demand to remove Catholicos Garegin II from office. The prime minister accused him and the Armenian clergy of working for Russia.
On June 25, the Investigative Committee of Armenia reported the preparation of terrorist acts with the aim of seizing power in Armenia by members of the Sacred Struggle movement, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan. Large-scale searches were conducted in the homes of Galstanyan and his supporters. A total of 17 people were arrested, including Archbishop Mikael (Gevorg) Ajapakhyan.