And who will protect believers from the state?

According to official data from the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia—based on the most recent census conducted in 2022—approximately 95.4 percent of Armenia’s population (2,793,042 people) are followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Are the Armenian authorities, who are carrying out an anti-church campaign, infringing upon the religious freedom or other rights of 95.4 percent of their own country’s population? Anna Sargsyan spoke with Ara Ghazaryan, a lawyer and expert on human rights issues.