The reports about any official discussions or plans to dismiss Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II do not correspond to reality, and the uproar artificially fueled around the controversial incident is a discourse imposed from outside, and it undermines Armenia's sovereignty.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at a press briefing held at the government Thursday, as he commented, at the request of reporters on the recent prank call by two Russian pranksters with Feridun Sinirlioglu, Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The premier completely denied the presence of such topics on the agenda of the Armenian authorities, and emphasized that he has no questions about the law enforcement system, "taking into account the autonomous and independent nature of the work of its key structures."

Commenting on the aforesaid prank call itself, Pashinyan called not to succumb to manipulations and artificially incited emotions in media headlines that stress the OSCE Secretary General being Turkish. Pashinyan noted that “when the doors of the Armenian Patriarchate were being closed in Istanbul with the support of local officials, no one in Armenia was raising a wave of indignation about it.” “What does it matter whether he is Turkish, Georgian, Russian, or Armenian?

All this uproar and capitalized headlines are a destructive approach to generating additional emotions. This is the standard of patriotism that has long been introduced in Armenia by external forces and which, in fact, deprives us of sovereignty.

Let those pranksters better call Ktrich Nersisyan [i.e. the birth name of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II] directly, or talk to all officials on behalf of [opposition Strong Armenia Alliance leader and Russian Armenian businessman] Samvel Karapetyan, let's see what they will answer, and then we will draw conclusions,” the Armenian prime minister concluded.

Russian pranksters Vovan and Leksus have publicized a recording of their prank call with OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu. Allegedly speaking on behalf of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the prank call, they stated that they hope for OSCE assistance in dismissing the Catholicos of All Armenians, and also asked for help in case of possible criticism from supporters of Samvel Karapetyan. In response, Sinirlioglu promised to do everything possible.