Suren Surenyants writes: "NSA in political games. dangerous situation for the state
The media outlet of the ruling "Civil Agreement" party published a document obtained from the National Security Service, claiming that the brother of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Archbishop Ezras Nersisyan, was recruited by the Soviet KGB in the 1980s.
From that document, filled in in Armenian, it can be assumed that it was declassified back in 2001.
At first glance, the publication can be presented as "revealing the dark pages" of the past.
However, the political, legal and institutional analysis shows that we are not dealing with the restoration of historical justice, but with a politically targeted application, if not with retaliation against a specific person and institution.
It is difficult to consider the period of publication of the document as a coincidence.
It coincides with the phase of the escalation of relations between the government and the Church, which gives grounds for concluding that the publication has a clear political motive.
Although Archbishop Ezras is formally targeted, the real blow is also addressed to his brother, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and, more broadly, to the Armenian Apostolic Church as an independent institution.
If this document was really declassified in 2001, then a valid question arises: why is it being put into circulation almost two decades later and in this political environment?
This selective memory calls into question not only the purpose of the publication, but also the institutional impartiality of the process.
Even in case of accepting the authenticity of the document, it is necessary to record a clear and unambiguous circumstance. In 1986, the cooperation of a citizen of the USSR with the Soviet special services, including the KGB of the USSR, cannot legally be considered as a crime.
Under the conditions of the totalitarian legal system operating at that time, it was not only legal, but often forced behavior.
The fact that one of the key representatives of the current government, Ararat Mirzoyan, the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, has publicly admitted his cooperation with the National Security Service and still continues to hold office without any political or moral consequences is also very telling.
This clearly shows that the problem is not the principled revenge against the past, but the selective targeting of specific individuals and institutions.
Lustration applied in Eastern European countries was a universal and legally regulated process with the aim of freeing the society from the systemic effects of the totalitarian past.
Here, on the contrary, we are dealing with a local, selective and politically interested action, which has nothing to do with the idea of institutional lustration.
The most serious and dangerous consequence concerns the NSS as a state institution.
The disclosure of representatives or alleged representatives of the agency network for political expediency undermines the reputation and effectiveness of the service.
It is a dangerous message for the future. any citizen may withdraw from cooperation with the security agencies, fearing that in the event of a change in the political situation, he may become a public target.
This is already a direct threat to the stability of the national security system.
It is difficult to consider this process as a spontaneous or purely media initiative.
The political responsibility comes down to one center, Nikol Pashinyan, during whose administration, manifestations of ignoring constitutional regulations and arbitrary use of power have been recorded many times.
The direct order to close a specific store in the last session of the government is an expression of the same political logic: personalization of power, arbitrariness and bypassing of institutional mechanisms.
Accordingly, let's come to a conclusion.
This so-called "disclosure" serves neither historical justice nor public interest.
It is a tool of political struggle aimed at increasing pressure on the Armenian Apostolic Church, discrediting independent institutions and involving power structures in internal political calculations.
This approach is dangerous not only for the Church, but also for the state."
