Pashinyan targets billionaire Samvel Karapetyan following Church defense

By Lia Avagyan

Armenia’s police carried out a search at the Yerevan residence of billionaire businessman Samvel Karapetyan on Tuesday, just hours after he publicly criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church and pledged to intervene if political leaders failed to act.

Karapetyan, who resides in Russia and owns the Tashir Group conglomerate—including major assets in Armenia such as the Electric Networks of Armenia, Dalma Garden Mall, and the Tashir Pizza chain—is one of the country’s most powerful businessmen. He is also a major benefactor of the Church, having funded the recent renovation of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral.

Karen Karapetyan

The raid on his home came shortly after Karapetyan, speaking outside the Cathedral in a video published by News.am, denounced the government’s campaign against the Church. “What opinion should I have when a small clique, forgetting Armenian history and the thousands of years of our Church, attacks it?” Karapetyan said. “Since I have always stood with the Armenian Church and the Armenian people, I will be directly involved. If the politicians fail, then we will participate in our own way.”

Karapetyan’s brother, Karen Karapetyan, who approached reporters outside the residence, said the businessman had not yet been arrested but believed it was only a matter of time. “He’s still at home—for now. But they’ll arrest him soon. I’m just waiting,” he said.

Police later confirmed that several individuals were detained and that operational activities were underway, but provided no further details.

Prime Minister Pashinyan appeared to respond to Karapetyan’s remarks with a series of inflammatory social media posts. “Why are the whoremongering ‘clergy’ and their whoremongering ‘benefactors’ suddenly so active?” Pashinyan wrote. “No worries—we’ll neutralize them again. This time, permanently.”

➡️ Update 2 – Karapetyan’s statement:
Shortly afterward, the press service of the Tashir Group released the following statement by Samvel Karapetyan: “I will fight with all my strength for the sacred values of the Armenian people—wherever I may be, no matter what happens. I will not allow anyone, under any pretext or for any purpose, to desecrate what is sacred to us.”

Karapetyan also spoke to Russian media. “They wanted to stage a masked raid and detain me. But ordinary people who had gathered in the yard pushed them back,” he told the RT Telegram channel.

➡️ Update 1 – Church Condemnation
The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin issued a statement condemning the attempted detention and search, saying:“A short while ago, it became known that immediately after declaring support for the Armenian Church, an attempt was made by law enforcement bodies to detain the national benefactor Samvel Karapetyan, and at this very moment his residence is being searched.
We strongly condemn this persecution, which is manifestly driven by political motives. We call upon the authorities of the Republic of Armenia to immediately cease these unlawful actions.”

Mounting Pashinyan–Church tensions

Karapetyan’s clash with the government comes amid a rapidly escalating conflict between Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church. On June 9, the Prime Minister publicly called for the resignation of Catholicos Karekin II, accusing him of violating his celibacy vow and fathering a child.

The latest tensions began after the Catholicos participated in a May 24 conference in Bern, Switzerland, where he denounced Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and called for their right of return. His remarks appeared to diverge from the Armenian government’s diplomatic messaging, which has increasingly prioritized quiet normalization with Baku.

Pashinyan has repeatedly accused high-ranking clergy of corruption and moral failings. Last month, he and his wife, Anna Hakobyan, launched a social media campaign accusing individual bishops of violating Church rules and demanding their defrocking. In response, the Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council issued a formal statement accusing the Prime Minister of crossing moral and legal boundaries and pursuing a politically motivated agenda.

Despite the attacks, the Church remains the most trusted institution in Armenia, according to recent polling by the Caucasus Barometer.

SEE: Armenians trust the church and army most, distrust politicians and media

The confrontation with Karapetyan follows other government proposals to restrict the Church’s independence. Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan recently floated the idea of imposing background checks on future candidates for Catholicos and conditioning the Church’s tax-exempt status on greater financial transparency.

Critics warn that the government is overstepping its constitutional bounds by attempting to subordinate the Church to political power. “This is more than a political dispute—it’s a crisis of institutional legitimacy,” journalist Karpis Pashoyan told CivilNet. “The government is treating the Church not as a partner, but as an adversary.”

This is a developing story. CivilNet will provide updates as more information becomes available.