Senior Armenian cleric condemns authorities and political forces (video)
“Authorities in Armenia come to power by bribing voters,’ says His Eminence Archbishop Voskan Galpakyan, who had served the Armenian Apostolic Church in various locations in the Diaspora for many years before his return to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in 2010. “Elections were formal and they [authorities] won,” he says. Voskan Galpakyan, who once served as Primate of the Diocese of Greece and Damascus, always stayed in close contact with his Homeland and followed the events in Armenia ever since the country proclaimed independence in 1991. He says the lukewarm atmosphere does not recover in the country. In addition, there are numerous wrinkles to smooth out, including the post-election bloodshed of March 1, 2008. “Had the March 1 unrest been disclosed, the state would have blamed itself,” he says. He singles out another blemish accompanying our independent country. Freedom of expression was suppressed and stifled under the three presidents and opposition figures were sent to jail. “This continues until today. Let me cite the example of [activist] Gevorg Safaryan,” he says. “Criminal proceedings are opened against people who stage protests and insult others during rallies. Yes, I can say that these people are probably political prisoners.” Voskan Galpakyan follows the developments in the political arena as well. He is concerned that the political forces vying to take seats in the National Assembly have similar, if not identical ideology. “They are simply competing for seats. They only say that this regime is a thief, a scoundrel, while the regime says ‘Let us believe to be able to change.’ But nothing has changed so far.” Speaking about the clergymen who drive Bentleys and live a life of luxury, the archbishop said, “People do not want to see a high-ranking clergyman driving a Soviet-made Zhiguli. If I get out of a Zhiguli outside a hotel in Yerevan, none of the hotel employees will show up to open the door for me. But if they see me in a Mercedes, they will rush to open the door.” When asked about the Armenia of his dreams, Archbishop Voskan Galpakyan said, “I would like to live in an Armenia where the judge can cancel a presidential decree as is the case in America."
