Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the 5th annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., delivered a speech, and answered questions from the speaker.

In his speech, the PM noted as follows, in particular:

From my point of view, religious freedom is about democracy. There can be no democracy without religious freedom, since being free means being free in the perception of God and in the perception of religion.

But being free, on the other hand, means tolerance for the religious views of others, and one without the other can lead to religious fanaticism and extremism.

To believe in God or not is a matter of personal faith and personal freedom. How to believe in God, through which religion, is a matter of personal faith and personal freedom.

Of course, the United States is an exemplary and leading country for everyone and all religions in ensuring religious freedom. It was with this understanding that Armenia joined the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, created under the inspiration of the United States, in February 2020, during the first presidency of President Trump.

The main religious institution of the Republic of Armenia is the Armenian Apostolic Church, and this is natural because Armenia is the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion, and this was done back in 301 by the Armenian King Tiridates III. Since then, the Armenian Apostolic Church has played a significant role for our people.

In Armenia, we also have the Armenian Catholic Church, we also have the Armenian Evangelical Association of America, which operate freely and enjoy great respect in our society. There are other religious organizations based on Christianity, and they operate freely.

Armenia is home to the largest Yazidi community in the world, and the largest Yazidi temple in the world was recently built in Armenia. We have the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church, Russian Molokans, and pagans in Armenia.

The Jewish community of Armenia, although small, plays an important role in our diverse society, with its spiritual life which is centered around the Yerevan Synagogue.

In the center of our capital, Yerevan, we have a functioning Muslim mosque, which is a very important part of our cultural heritage.

Religious freedom is a very important part of democracy in Armenia. In terms of regional relations, three of the four neighboring countries—Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan—have a predominantly Muslim population. Our other neighbor, Georgia, has a predominantly Christian population with a large Muslim community. This shows how important religious tolerance is for the stability of our region.

Fortunately, despite political and ethnic differences, we have a good tradition of religious tolerance and respect in our region, and this makes lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus more realistic. And we hope to transform our regional disputes into regional dialogue, and religious freedom is one of the tools that can make this a reality.