Coup Atlas Research Database
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37106252025ConspiracyDissident coup

Armenia, 2025 — dissident coup conspiracy

Armenia (ARM)Western Asia, AsiaJune 25, 2025

Event Summary

This entry is coded 25 June 2025, corresponding to the 2025 Armenian coup attempt allegations centered on the Armenian Apostolic Church. Following an attempt by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government to oust the head of the Church, Catholicos Garegin II, and amid a broader feud with the clergy, on 25 June 2025 the National Security Service (NSS) announced it had arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who had led the 2024 Armenian protests and the Sacred Struggle opposition movement, along with 14 other opposition figures. Pashinyan said law enforcement had foiled a large-scale and sinister plan by what he called the criminal-oligarchic clergy to destabilize Armenia and seize power.

The Investigative Committee said it had arrested 14 people and launched proceedings against 16, after raids on more than 90 premises, alleging Galstanyan had acquired means to carry out terrorist acts and seize power, and releasing recordings it said showed plans to execute officials. A few days later Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan was also charged. The arrests came amid Pashinyan's move against Garegin II and the earlier arrest of businessman Samvel Karapetyan.

Galstanyan's lawyer called the case politically motivated. The 25 June 2025 coding matches the arrests.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Pashinyan said the plot was foiled and arrested clerical and opposition figures
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (target)
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan (Sacred Struggle leader, arrested)
Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan (later charged)

Sources

On 25 June 2025 the National Security Service announced it had arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who led the 2024 Armenian protests, and 14 other opposition figures, and a few days later Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan was also arrested, in what was described as the fourth alleged coup attempt in three years.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 2025 Armenian coup attempt allegations open source ↗
Pashinyan wrote that law enforcement officers had foiled a large-scale and sinister plan by the criminal-oligarchic clergy to destabilize the situation in Armenia and seize power, and authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, accusing him of trying to mastermind the attempted coup.
SOURCE REVIEWED Courthouse News: Armenia PM says foiled 'sinister' coup plot by senior cleric open source ↗
The Investigative Committee said it had arrested 14 people and launched criminal proceedings against 16 suspects after raids of more than 90 premises related to Galstanyan's Sacred Struggle movement, alleging he had acquired the means to carry out terrorist acts and seize power and releasing covert recordings.
SOURCE REVIEWED Courthouse News: Armenia PM says foiled 'sinister' coup plot by senior cleric open source ↗
The arrests came after Pashinyan tried to oust Catholicos Garegin II and amid the arrest of businessman Samvel Karapetyan, with Galstanyan leading the Sacred Struggle movement that called on Pashinyan to resign, and his lawyer condemning the case as politically motivated.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 2025 Armenian coup attempt allegations open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 25 Jun 2025 matches the arrests exactly. Verified as the June 2025 Armenia coup allegations (Sacred Struggle / clerical case); the defence called it politically motivated. Third Armenia record in the run (after Sep 2023 and Sep 2024).

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
37106252025

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Pashinyan said the plot was foiled and arrested clerical and opposition figures.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

“Foiled Coup in Armenia? Conflict with Church Leadership Escalates,” July 18, 2025

Center for Eastern Studies

“Armenia: a power struggle between the throne and the altar, with Russia in the shadows,” July 01, 2025

BBC News

“Armenia’s PM offers to expose himself in escalating Church row,” June 26, 2025

AlJazeera

“Armenia arrests prominent archbishop over alleged coup plot,” June 25, 2025

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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