Saturday, May 28 2016 04:41

Today, at the Battle of Sardarapat compound President Serzh Sargsyan accompanied by His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, the highest leadership of the Republic and guests participated in the festivities dedicated to the Day of First Armenian Republic.

As the press-service of the Armenian President informs President Sargsyan laid a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Sardarapat and paid tribute to their memory. The President of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief Serzh Sargsyan greeted the participants of the military parade dedicated to the holiday and congratulated them on the occasion of the Republic Day. Later, the President of Armenia and attendees of the festivities watched the cultural program dedicated to the event.

In Sardarapat, the President of Armenia gave a congratulatory speech dedicated to the Republic Day: 

"For us, this is first and foremost a salvation holiday. We saved our last piece of land and the last remnants of our nation residing on that piece of land. No matter how difficult to accept, but that was the truth.  The bleeding Armenian nation on the verge of desperation was able through the supernatural exertion to stand up to the enemy, to prevail, and throw the enemy back. Many consider the heroic battles of May and their victorious outcome a miracle. We prevailed, we survived, and we liberated ourselves.  Our independence and our statehood were not a gift to us. We paid for them the price nobody has ever paid. We did it alone; moreover, we did it despite the blows of the destiny. With May 28, the foreign subjects and refugees had become citizens of a State. They became people who had solid ground beneath their feet and had a State behind them. It was a State they had to build; it was a state, which they had to serve to; it was a State, which they could make demands to; it was a State to criticize - with the anticipation of making it better. It was a State, which had to turn its almost lifeless populace, half of which were also orphans, into a political nation; it was a State, which had to bring up a new generation, re-born generation, which would be capable to register new scientific, cultural, and military achievements. It was a State, which predestined the existence of the Soviet Armenia and today's Republic of Armenia.

Military hostilities that unfolded at the early April revealed more vividly some realities - good or bad, within and around us. Among all those realities the most important one for me was our new generation - the generation born with the independence, generation that proved to us and to all that they are the masters and guardians of our State. Those, who created the "May 28" in 1918, would only dream of a regular army, such as ours, and of a new generation, such as this one. And they are with us, now.  There will be no new Sardarapat since by and large it was a war of desperation. Those who fought there did not know what country's citizens they were of, and if they were citizens at all. There will be no new Sardarapat since there stands a State. There is a generation born with independence, which wants to move in step with the contemporary world - and it will; a generation, which wants to move its country forward - and it will; a generation born with independence, which grasped the bequest of May 28 better than anyone else. All this stems from the fact that in their families and in their schools the bequest of May 28 was also grasped properly. We as a State, as a nation and as a society grasped the bequest of May 28 well.

On May 28 our nation stepped back from the verge of the abyss. We stepped back and moved towards the rebirth, towards creation, and toiling. We got back", the President mentioned in his speech.