According to extreme provincial logic, some people conclude that if the leader of Armenia raises the issue of the rulebook of the Armenian Apostolic Church—and this issue, according to these same people, is under the jurisdiction of Turkey—it means that the leader of Armenia has been given authority from the leader of Turkey. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at a press briefing Thursday.

According to him, he is not surprised by the comments made by the Turkish authorities regarding the election of the Catholicos of All Armenians. “For centuries, the leader of Turkey has appointed the Catholicos of All Armenians. For some centuries, the leader of Persia [did the same], for some centuries, the leader of Russia, and so on. Until now, the last such documents that have been adopted have been adopted either in the format of the Russian or Turkish empires. There is no such culture,” Pashinyan added.

As per the Armenian premier, these people do not find it strange that the rules adopted by the Turkish sultan or the Russian tsar are still in force. “Therefore, when such a question is raised, this logic subconsciously begins to work in their favor,” he said.

According to Pashinyan, for more than 500 years, the homeland represented by Armenia and the state represented by the Persian, Ottoman or Russian Empires have been different concepts for Armenians, and the perception of a “state,” in contrast to the “homeland,” has often been negative. “We need to change this perception, because now the [Armenian] homeland is the state,” concluded the PM of Armenia.