Religion in Armenia

Armenia is a mountainous country in the Transcaucasia region.  Bordered by Turkey to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, Georgia to the north, and Iran to the south, Armenia is geopolitically viewed as part of Eastern Europe, despite being geographically located in Western Asia.  With a total surface area of 29,743 square kilometers, Armenia is the 143rd largest country in the world.  It is also the 137th most populous country in the world,  with a population of around 3 million, most of which are concentrated in the northern half of the country.  About one-third of the population lives in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital city.  A former Soviet state, Armenia’s population is not diverse, with approximately 98.1 percent being native Armenian and 1.1 percent Yezidi (Kurdish), while all other ethnicities (including Russians, Assyrians, Greeks, Ukrainians, and Jews) combined account for 0.7 percent of the population.  Most of the Azerbaijani population left Armenia due to a long-lasting conflict between the two countries. 

The Armenian people first appeared in recorded history around 7th century BCE, hailing from the Indo-European region.  In 301 CE, Armenia became the first nation to formally adopt Christianity as its official religion after King Tiridates III was converted by St. Gregory the Illuminator.  Armenia’s religiosity was pivotal in the creation of the country’s written language—in the 5th and 6th centuries, the Armenian alphabet was created for the specific purpose of translating the Bible into Armenian.  The Armenian Apostolic Church (“AAC”) continues to have a profound impact on the cultural identity of Armenians today. 

Ancient Armenia was much larger than the Armenia of today, at points encompassing parts of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Georgia.  It was eventually conquered in the 14th century and was subject to the rule of various empires over the next several centuries, including the Persian, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires.  The eastern part of Armenia was ceded to Russia by the Persian Empire in 1828, while the greater part stayed under Ottoman control and was subject to periodic massacres and deportations due do doubts surrounding the loyalty that Armenian Christians had toward the empire.  The arrival of World War I brought with it the greatest tragedy in Armenian history, known as the Armenian Genocide.  In 1915, the new Young Turk regime decided to kill or deport the entirety of the Armenian population (about 1,750,000 people) to holding camps in Mesopotamia and Syria over fear that they would side with the pro-Christian Allied forces.  From 1915-16, between 600,000 and 1,500,000 Armenians died, while tens of thousands fled to other countries to survive. 

In 1918, Eastern Armenia declared its independence.  In 1920, Armenia was conquered by the Russian Army.  Armenia remained a Soviet State until September 21, 1991, when it finally gained its modern independence, being one of the first nations to declare independence from the Soviet Union.  A brief time after declaring its independence, occasional skirmishes between Azerbaijan and Armenia over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region evolved into all-out war. 

The Nagorno-Karabakh region was given to Azerbaijan by the Soviet Government in 1920, despite ethnic Armenians accounting for the vast majority of the population.  The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan resulted in approximately 30,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced Armenians and Azerbaijanis.  A cease-fire was negotiated in 1994 and while it has technically remained in place ever since, cease-fire violations have been common.  To further exacerbate problems, Turkey (which borders Armenia) has sided with Azerbaijan, while Russia (which borders Azerbaijan) has sided with Armenia.  Sanctions imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan have hurt Armenia’s economy, leading to even more emigration.  Despite the cease-fire still being active, tensions remain high and periodic conflict on the border continues.  The U.S. State Department encourages those travelling to Armenia to avoid the Nagorno-Karabakh region due to “intermittent gunfire and occasional use of artillery systems.” 

The current Armenian Constitution was drafted in 1995 and amended in 2005 and 2015 to change the form of government from a presidential to semi-presidential (in 2005) and then from semi-presidential system to a parliamentary democracy (in 2015) that uses the civil law system.  The official language is Armenian, and the national religion is the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC).  Armenia has enlarged its cooperation with the European Union, and has signed Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement in November 2017, which brought the Parties one step closer to their future collaboration, however, as of today, Armenia still is not considered to be a member or a candidate of the European Union.   Since 2014 Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

RELIGIOUS CONTEXT

The Constitution of Armenia, as amended in 2015, recognizes the AAC’s “exceptional mission as a national church in the spiritual life of the Armenian people, in the development of its national culture and preservation of the national identity”  , however Armenia, as a country, does not declare any religion as its official religion. Moreover, Armenia guarantees the freedom of activities of all religious organizations and their separation from the state . 

The Church claims that its roots can be traced back to sometime between 35 and 60 CE, when two Apostles of Christ—Bartholomew and Thaddeus—first brought the gospel to Armenia (hence the name, “Armenian Apostolic Church”).  According to a  2011 census, roughly 92.7 percent of Armenians self-identify with the AAC,  however due to over 1700 years of Christian tradition and many years of Soviet rule (a largely atheistic culture), identifying with the AAC is often less of a religious identification and more of an ethnic identification.  In fact, many atheists in Armenia identify as AAC followers because the church is so strongly tied to the national identity.  Government statements often equate Armenian identity to AAC membership, which further exacerbates the problem of discrimination against non-AAC members.  Roughly 82 percent of Armenians believe that being a member of the AAC is required to truly share a national identity with their fellow citizens. 

In addition to the AAC, Armenia is also made up of several other religious groups and denominations, none of which, however, account for more than 1 percent of the population.  The largest non-AAC denomination is that of Evangelical Christians, totaling just under 1.0 percent.  There are also Roman Catholics, Armenian Uniate Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, Charismatic Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, Pagans, Molokan Christians, Yezidis, Bahais, Jews, Shia Muslims, and Sunni Muslims and other smaller religions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)  which makes up the smallest religious group in Armenia with an estimated 241 members according to census data  (although the LDS Church claims that there are closer to 3,750 members in Armenia).  All of these other religious groups combined make up only 3.3 percent of the population of Armenia.  Lastly, 1.1 percent do not self-identify with any religion, while 2.9 percent chose not to respond to the question on the 2011 census. 

Religious freedom is constitutionally protected in Armenia,  but that does not mean that religious discrimination from both the public and the State itself does not exist. Minority denominations often feel required to practice their religion discreetly and to limit religious activities to their own communities, as expanding beyond the confines of their own premises often brings with it a fear of harassment or discrimination from others.  Members of minority religious sects often choose not to share their religious affiliation with others during military service,  and some have expressed concerns that even police and prosecutors are sometimes biased against them solely due to their lack of affiliation with the AAC.  Pressure from AAC priests and state officials has led to the cancellation of several minority church services and events in the past decade alone, and complaints from AAC members about the construction of non-AAC religious buildings have resulted in subsequent building applications being denied by the government.  That being said, some minority denominations have reported a decline in discrimination in recent years, as the government has been making a concerted effort to improve religious tolerance by cracking down on various forms of religious discrimination and responding promptly to discrimination complaints. 

From Armenia: Law and Religion Framework Overview (2018) by Steve Herklin (notes omitted).  To view the entire report, click the link below.