Armenian parliament debates designating new Memorial Day

Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan presented to lawmakers a bill co-drafted by him, seeking to designate January 27 as the “Day of Remembrance and Reverence” - a new, unified memorial day to honor the memory of all those who have fallen in military operations throughout the republic’s history.

The commemoration day would honor all fallen men and women in Armenia without being tied to any particular war.

Rubinyan said that a law enacted in 2000 on the commemoration of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country covers all categories of persons who died on the line of duty. However, he noted that, although the law provides for a national commemoration day, no such day has been officially designated, and instead, victims of various wars have been commemorated on different dates.

Rubinyan also stated that recent events—the April War of 2016, the 44-day war of 2020, attacks against Armenia, and the September 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in which the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh was subjected to ethnic cleansing—make the need for a unified day of remembrance even more evident.

The bill proposes commemorating the day on January 27, the day preceding Army Day (January 28), so that it is not linked to any specific military event but still carries clear symbolism.

“On January 27, we will honor the memory of those who fell defending the homeland, and the following day, January 28, we will celebrate Army Day as a symbol of continuing life and unbreakable will,” Rubinyan said.

If passed, January 27 will be designated a non-working day.