“Today we commemorate the innocent victims of Armenian Genocide” – PM Pashinyan’s statement

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has released a statement on the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia, today we commemorate the innocent victims of the Mets Yeghern, the Armenian Genocide, who fell victim to the widespread massacres and mass deportations starting in 1915. These developments that took place in the final period of the Ottoman Empire’s existence left a deep mark in every Armenian’s spirit and consciousness, for many citizens of Armenia the genocide in not only a national tragedy, but a family tragedy, a personal tragedy. Surviving this tragedy has been one of the key issues of our national agenda of more than one century, regardless to what extent it had been formed as such. 

The government’s and my ruminations around this agenda have led to the following: The developed, sovereign, safe, i.e. with delimitated and demarcated borders Republic of Armenia is the means to survive the tragedy of Mets Yeghern, the guarantee of our devotion to every sacrifice and all victims of our people. 

State and state interests, Republic of Armenia with its internationally recognized territory, with normalized relations with neighbors, open borders, peace, work, welfare, free and protected citizen: This is what, who and how shall keep bright the memory of the victims of Mets Yeghern, this is how we shall survive the tragedy of Mets Yeghern. 

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia, we are moving along this path because this is how we decrypt the message conveyed to us by history, this is how we decode every Armenian citizen’s heartbeat that is not broadcast on any television channel or expressed on any social media, but can be heard through your vote for the ruling majority in the Republic of Armenia, heard personally by me. Moving along this path is not a matter of optimist or pessimism, but a mission to ensure the lastingness of the Republic of Armenia, our fatherland-state, and having passed through cruel trials and tragedies we have deserved this chance and this chance shall not be missed. And I am convinced, we, the people and its elected governing team, will not miss this chance for the sake of our martyrs and our generations. Glory to the martyrs and long live the Republic of Armenia.”