A nation that has survived genocide cannot afford to repeat, in any form, the mechanisms of its historical destruction

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has issued a statement regarding the repression against the Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia․

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention expresses deep concern over the ongoing state repression against the Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia, including the arrests and intimidation of clergy, the targeting of ecclesiastical institutions, and the state’s increasing use of the legal system to silence religious leadership. These developments are an unfortunate example of how genocidal processes can become internalized during periods of threat.
The combination of selective prosecutions, limited transparency, and direct state intervention in religious affairs raises serious concerns that legal mechanisms are being used not to uphold the law but to undermine the autonomy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The current wave of repression echoes a familiar pattern of the Armenian Genocide. It began with the systematic targeting of Armenian intellectuals, clergy, and community leaders, a strategy used by the Ottoman Empire to obliterate an entire civilization by severing its identity from its moral and spiritual core, the nation’s leadership and erase the voices that could organize resistance or preserve cultural cohesion.
While the current situation cannot be equated with the genocidal violence of 1915, the parallels in logic and method must be recognized. Early warning signs of identity-based repression often begin with efforts to delegitimize and criminalize institutions that embody collective memory and moral resistance.
A nation that has survived genocide cannot afford to repeat, in any form, the mechanisms of its historical destruction.