OSCE Secretary General Offers to Help Remove Armenian Catholicos

Two Russian pranksters posed as Pashinyan and called OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu, asking for the organization’s help in ousting Catholicos Garegin II. Sinirlioğlu’s response was damning: he agreed to assist, offered to help change Armenia’s religion, and then endorsed a criticism of OSCE’s own election monitoring report as too harsh on Armenia. The call was recorded and circulated, primarily through Russian media outlets, but received muted coverage in Armenia and minimal global attention.

What makes this moment significant extends beyond the prank itself. Sinirlioğlu’s willingness to promise assistance reveals the depth of political alignment between international bodies and the current Armenian government. More critically, he undermined OSCE’s foundational commitments to religious freedom and electoral integrity-both enshrined in the organization’s charter. When the head of an international election monitoring body criticizes his own organization’s reports as unjust while simultaneously offering to help remove a religious leader, it exposes how political considerations override institutional mandates.

The hosts note that Sinirlioğlu, a Turkish national, holds particular sensitivity in this context, given Armenia’s historical experience with Turkey and the Armenian Genocide. However, they also point out that Pashinyan’s deflection-questioning why Armenian media reported Sinirlioğlu’s ethnicity-rings hollow given that Pashinyan’s entire election campaign was built on ethnic hatred directed at Artsakh Armenians. The broader implication is troubling: if such commitments are being made in recorded phone calls, what guarantees might be offered in private conversations? This episode raises urgent questions about OSCE’s independence, the Armenian Church’s vulnerability, and the extent to which international institutions are willing to sacrifice their credibility for political alignment.