Let them call Ktrich himself: Pashinyan responded to the prank by Vovan and Lexus

Rumors about any official discussions or plans to remove Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, do not correspond to reality, and the noise being stirred up around the high-profile incident is an externally imposed discourse that undermines the country's sovereignty.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at a briefing, commenting at the request of journalists on the recent prank played on OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu by Russian pranksters, according to Armenian media.

The head of government completely denied the presence of such topics on the authorities' agenda and emphasized that he has no questions for the law enforcement system, "taking into account the autonomous and independent nature of the work of its key structures."

Commenting on the audio recording itself, he called not to succumb to manipulations and the artificial escalation of emotions in media headlines that focus on the Turkish origin of the OSCE secretary general. Pashinyan noted that "when the doors of the Armenian Patriarchate were closed in Istanbul with the support of local officials, no wave of indignation was raised in Armenia on this matter."

"What difference does it make whether someone is Turkish, Georgian, Russian, or Armenian? All this noise and large-print headlines for additional emotions is a destructive approach. This is a criterion of patriotism that has long been introduced in Armenia by external forces and which in fact deprives us of sovereignty. Let these pranksters call Ktrich Nersisyan (the secular name of the Catholicos – ed.) directly or talk to all officials on behalf of Samvel Karapetyan (leader of the Strong Armenia party – ed.), let's see what they answer, and then we will draw conclusions," Nikol Pashinyan concluded.

It should be recalled that Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus published a recording of a conversation with OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu. Speaking on behalf of Nikol Pashinyan, they stated that they were counting on OSCE support in the matter of removing the Catholicos of All Armenians for the sake of a "change of religion," and also asked for assistance in case of criticism from supporters of Strong Armenia party leader Samvel Karapetyan.

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OSCE Secretary General promised Pashinyan to remove Garegin II: prank by Vovan and Lexus - VIDEO