Armenia’s struggle is not over faith, but over sovereignty and Moscow-linked power

There is an argument gaining traction in some diaspora circles: that Armenia’s reformist leadership, in its zeal to modernize the state, has begun trespassing on sacred ground. A recent op-ed in JNS framed the arrest of billionaire Samvel Karapetyan as a blunt assault on democratic values and clerical dignity.

The concern is understandable. Small states have a long history of using rule of law language to mask political score-settling. But to read the turbulence in Yerevan primarily as a story of faith under siege is to miss the central contest now shaping Armenia’s future. This is less a confrontation between the state and the church than a struggle over sovereignty and the networks that have long tethered Armenia to Moscow.

Part of the argument is a slippery slope: if the state can squeeze the national church, the logic goes, Armenia’s Jewish community could be next. It is a powerful emotional move. It is also a move that risks turning a debate about power into a test of loyalty, where any scrutiny of a well-connected tycoon is recast as a threat to minorities.

Karapetyan is not merely a philanthropist, or simply a man standing near a cathedral. He is a dual Russian-Armenian citizen and the head of the Moscow-based Tashir Group, a business empire built inside the scaffolding of Russia’s political........

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