1937 back in Armenia - Bagrat Galstanyan 

ArmInfo.  The leader of the "Sacred Struggle" Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan handed over a letter from the "Yerevan-Kentron" penal institution, located in the building of the National Security Service of Armenia.

The letter says: "In the prison cell, which I do not regret for a  second, I had different feelings. Yesterday, in my thoughts, I  involuntarily recalled that about 90 years ago, or rather 88 years  ago, in 1937, Archbishop Bagrat Vardazaryan was held in custody in  this same building, and then was shot in the basements of the same  building. The honor of being named after whom my spiritual parent,  His Holiness Garegin I,

His Eminence the Patriarch of All Armenians bestowed upon me. He  ordained me and anointed me with the name Bagrat in memory of  Archbishop Bagrat Vardazaryan and commanded me to be faithful to the  path he had chosen and to continue his work. For about 30 years, I  have been trying to honor and gratefully bear the name of the  martyr-bishop, who spent his entire life fighting for and in defense  of the Armenian identity, values, Mother Church and Homeland. He  fought against the encroachments of Tsarist Russia, against the  Azerbaijani bandits in Baku, welcomed the proclamation of Independent  Armenia, and then was subjected to Soviet persecution. Then he  accepted a martyr's death in the name of the Armenian and Armenia,  the Holy Church and identity, his history and biography, the future  and victory of Armenia.

Now I am in the same place, perhaps in the same cell. Let's see what  happens next. However, one thing is clear: we have returned to 1937,  when the anti-Armenian government, having submitted to the coercion  of the enemy, designated itself as the enemy of everything that could  restore our Home and Honor.

And at that time, Archbishop Bagrat Vardazaryan was slandered as a  terrorist, an enemy of the people and a state traitor or criminal.

This is the essence of a government with similar characteristics, the  end of which is inevitable, like that of the Soviet dictators.

Victory has no alternative:>, - he noted in the letter.

On June 25, the Investigative Committee reported on the preparation  of alleged terrorist acts with the aim of seizing power in Armenia by  members of the "Sacred Struggle". Large-scale searches were carried  out in the homes of the leader of the movement Bagrat Galstanyan and  his supporters. In the evening of the same day, the court arrested  them.

On June 27, special forces of the National Security Service of  Armenia entered the territory of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin in  masks to detain and then deliver to court for further arrest the head  of the Shirak Diocese, Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian. It was reported  that a criminal case was opened against him on June 17 of this year,  based on a signal received by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The  reason for the criminal case was an interview given by the bishop in  February 2024 about allegedly public calls for the seizure of power  and the violent overthrow of the constitutional order. On the morning  of the 28th, the court arrested Ajapakhian for 2 months.

It is curious that the motion to arrest Archbishop Mikael for two  months was granted by Masis Melkonyan, a member of the Republic party  of Aram Zavenovich Sargsyan, who also arrested the head of the Tavush  Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Bagrat  Galstanyan. According to the media, Archbishops Mikael and Bagrat are  sitting in the same NSS detention center.