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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II was not invited to the official ceremony led by him to mark Republic Day at the Sardarapat Memorial on Tuesday.

His comments came after riot police attempted to block the Armenian Apostolic Church leader and many other clergymen from entering the memorial, sparking widespread criticism.

Pashinyan and other top officials visited the Sardarapat Memorial later in the afternoon because protesters led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan demanding his resignation had been there since Monday.

“The political movement led by the Catholicos of All Armenians took actions aimed at disrupting the official ceremony there on Monday and Tuesday. And when His Holiness approached the venue of the ceremony, which he had not been invited to and we had no information that he had sought an invitation, police simply tried to get clarification on whether the visit was part of the obstructive and provocative measures taken by the movement led by him or it had some other purpose,” Pashinyan told reporters on Wednesday.

He stated when police were assured that the visit was purely ceremonial in nature, Karekin II and the other clerics were allowed to enter the Sardarapat Memorial.