Tense situation at Mother See as police attempt to arrest Archbishop Ajapahyan

NSS agents and police are trying to detain Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in the city of Vagharshapat. 

Ajapahyan said he would cooperate with law enforcement but as he was about to enter a police vehicle a brawl erupted and he went back to the Seat of the patriarchate, where senior clergymen have assembled for a meeting.

Ajapahyan is under criminal investigation for allegedly advocating the overthrow of the government. He is the head of the Diocese of Shirak of the Armenian Apostolic Church. 

Catholicos Karekin II was alongside the clergymen. He told reporters that the clergy would discuss their further actions during a planned assembly. “We will make every effort for justice to prevail,” he said.