Unrest in Armenia over government handling of conflict with Azerbaijan
The failed coup attempt that took place on 25 June in Armenia has brought the territorial conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region back into the spotlight. According to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a prominent figure in the Armenian Apostolic Church and opponent of the government, was involved in the coup attempt. Galstanyan had already led a protest movement against Pashinyan in 2024 over his handling of the territorial conflict with Azerbaijan.
The archbishop was accused of planning, together with several members of his entourage, a takeover by means not provided for in the Constitution. According to the Armenian Investigation Committee, the group had acquired tools and resources to carry out terrorist acts and destabilise the country. The authorities have initiated legal proceedings against 16 suspects and arrested 14 people, including the archbishop himself. Pashinyan described the alleged plot as ‘a sinister large-scale plan by the criminal oligarchic clergy’ and denounced their intention to alter the constitutional order of the Republic.
From historical conflict to political collapse in Armenia
After decades of conflict over control of Nagorno-Karabakh (a region located in southwestern Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian population), the confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan has gone through different phases marked by wars, truces and failed negotiations.
The first conflict erupted between 1988 and 1994, when Armenians in the enclave demanded incorporation into Armenia, leading to war after the dissolution of the USSR, with Armenian forces occupying both Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories. Although a ceasefire was reached in 1994, peace remained unstable over the following decades.
In 2020, a new war culminated in a Russian-brokered agreement, whereby Armenia ceded military control of the region but retained access through the Lachin Corridor. However, in 2023, Azerbaijan launched an offensive that consolidated its total control, causing the flight of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians and the de facto dissolution of the self-proclaimed republic.
Tensions reignited in 2024, with both nations accusing each other of “ethnic cleansing” before the International Court of Justice. Although a peace agreement was announced in 2025, Azerbaijan refused to sign it until Armenia reformed its constitution, prompting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to propose a referendum in 2027. The acceptance of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh and growing internal tensions fuelled mass protests in Yerevan, creating an unstable political climate that led to calls for Pashinyan's resignation and allegations of a possible coup attempt.
Mass arrests
Armenia's Investigative Committee reported that searches were carried out at the homes of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and some 30 of his associates as part of investigations into an alleged coup attempt.
The authorities accuse the archbishop of acquiring means and tools to carry out terrorist acts with the aim of seizing power, as part of what Pashinyan described on Telegram as ‘a sinister large-scale plan by the criminal oligarchic clergy to destabilise the republic’. In response to these actions, MP Garnik Danielyan, who is close to the religious leader, rejected the accusations and denounced them as manoeuvres typical of a ‘dictatorial regime’.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed his hope that Armenia would remain a prosperous country, respectful of the law and a friend of Russia. Although Yerevan is a traditional ally of Moscow, relations between the two countries have cooled in recent years due to Armenia's rapprochement with the West. Peskov added that Russia hopes there will be no further escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, noting that both sides are close to signing a peace agreement.
2024 protests
In June last year, thousands of people gathered in Yerevan's Republic Square in June 2024 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, following his decision to cede border villages to Azerbaijan, a move that was perceived as a concession without anything in return. The mobilisation was led by the detained Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, whose aim was to force the head of government, in power since 2018, to step down.