Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church has emerged as an increasingly prominent leader in Armenia in the last year as discontent has mounted towards the sitting government, a process which has accelerated since Azerbaijan’s annexation of Artsakh.
Notably, he has led a series of protests, some attracting around 30,000 people in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. The political turbulence in Armenia has spiraled since the outbreak of fresh conflict with Azerbaijan, which began in late 2020 and ultimately resulted in around 100,000 Armenians fleeing Artsakh in September of 2023. The protests of 2024 were triggered after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan entered a unilateral agreement process with Azerbaijan to transfer four villages in the Qazakh District to Azerbaijan as part of ongoing peace negotiations.
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