It’s gossip, not agreed with such a wording, and it’s not true. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated this in his address Wednesday at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session in Strasbourg, France—and in response to a European MP’s question whether Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement on the “reform” of the Armenian Apostolic Church violates the principles of democracy.

Clergy are not persecuted in Armenia. But if some people call for the violent overthrow of the legally elected government, as well as the killing of its representatives, what the response will be, Mirzoyan asked.

According to him, it is very sad that there are clergy in Armenia who have done just that.

Also, the FM emphasized that the rule of law is in force in Armenia, and therefore, everyone must act within its framework.