YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan delivered a speech at the main event dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the independence of Armenia at the Republic Square of Yerevan. ARMENPRESS presents the full speech of the PM.

‘’Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia, Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly, Distinguished Members of the Government, Security Council, MPs, Distinguished Representatives of the Judiciary, dear parents, relatives of our martyrs, dear attendees, let’s first honor the memory of all our martyrs who sacrificed their lives to the Motherland and its Independence with minute of silence.

Thank You.

But you are standing alive with your old and new wounds,

You are standing thoughtful, on the mysterious path of the new and old.

With a groan from the depths of your heart, you are speaking to the God

Pondering of a deeply hidden symbolism in your torments,

Pondering about the Word you will tell the world,

And you will become the country, where our spirits strive,

Motherland of hope,

Motherland of light.

These words of Hovhannes Tumanyan probably most accurately express the situation of our homeland, the Republic of Armenia, which is already 30 years old. What will we see if we look back at the 30-year history of our independent state? We will see successes and failures, we will see victories and defeats, we will see tears and joy, we will see inspiration and despair, we will see rapture and disappointment, we will see wars, both victorious and defeated.

The burden of the 44-day war in 2020 is hovering over this square, and perhaps this circumstance is the symbol of the crossroads that the great Tumanyan is talking about. How to live after this tragedy, how to look into the eyes of the children, widows, fathers and mothers of the victims, how to make their sacrifice not be considered meaningless.

This formula is perhaps our biggest task, to formulate the guideline of our life and future at this point of 30 years of independence for the coming decades of our independent state. My formulation is the following.

History has shown and proved that victory in wars has not always been victory in general, in the same way the defeat in wars has not always been defeat in general. We must transform our defeat into victory, but we must also transform our formula for victory, because history has shown that it is not always necessary to defeat others for a victory. To win means to overcome despair, to overcome hopelessness, to overcome the fate, to overcome death.

So where are our martyrs?

They fell so as Armenia can live, they fell so as Artsakh can live. And as long as Armenia lives, as long as Artsakh lives, they are alive. When the Republic of Armenia is developing, when Artsakh is developing, their sacrifices have achieved their goal, because it’s about the homeland of their children, their brothers and sisters.

And I want us to see the presence of our martyrs with us today, to see them as a symbol of life, and not of death, to make them symbol of victory over death, symbol of overcoming despair, overcoming hopelessness.

We have been discussing for a long time what kind of project we should carry out to eternalize the memory of the victims of all the Artsakh wars, symbolizing their presence, their living next to us. And we decided to establish the Park of Life in the Yerevan Botanical Garden, where trees symbolizing the aliveness and presence of all the victims of all the Artsakh wars will be planted, and the culmination of the park will be the Tree of Life, symbolizing the lives of all our martyrs sacrificed to the homeland.

It will not be a memorial, it will be a park of life, where children will run, make noise, play, young people will have fun, adults will walk and talk, and that park will be about that they fell in order all these people, Armenia and Artsakh can live. And the living Armenia, living Artsakh, peaceful and developing Armenian statehood must become the victory they created.

Here, in the heart of this bright square, wrapped in Armenian flags and guarded by the guard of honor, these trees will be moved to the botanical garden, symbolizing the beginning of a new era in the history of the Republic of Armenia, the beginning of an era of peaceful development.

Live Armenia and rise, live Artsakh and rise, for the sake of the martyrs who fell for you to rise.  

Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia’’.