YEREVAN, Nov. 27 (ArmenPress) - The state council on religion of the government convened a meeting last Friday to look into the situation regarding the state of religious denominations and provide local authorities dealing with relevant issues with necessary information and coordinate their work.

Currently there are 13 denominations functioning in Armenia along with two unregistered religious groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Molokans. It was stated that the Armenian Apostolic Church is conducting much work, especially in the provinces, to win back those who have been proselytized by different sects, but very often it fails.

Some senior officials from the provinces were concerned with the volume of expansion on behalf of religious sects, especially by Jehovah's Witnesses. Thus, in the second largest Armenian town of Gumri alone, there are 3000 members of Jehovah's Witnesses. The hard socioeconomic condition moves people towards these sects, and the situation is the same in the province of Syunik.

A senior government official said that an agreement between the church and government regulating their relations would be signed before the end of the year.