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Akbar Novruz

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A march led by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has begun in Yerevan, following the Christmas liturgy at the Surb Grigor Illuminator Cathedral. The prime minister, accompanied by his wife Anna Hakobyan and other government officials, described the event as a "religious procession," Azernews reports via Sputnik Armenia.

Officials who attended the liturgy, along with members of the ruling Civil Contract party, are heading to the Surb Anna Church.

The march comes in the wake of Pashinyan signing a so-called "roadmap for the improvement" of the Armenian Apostolic Church on January 4, together with 10 bishops who had called for the resignation of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

Tensions between the Armenian authorities and the Church have intensified following Pashinyan’s criticism of the clergy and his initiative to revise the procedure for electing the Catholicos, granting the state a central role.

Earlier, the heads of three dioceses and the head of the chancery of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin were arrested on various charges, further escalating the standoff.