“We Will Never Give up Our Homeland; We Will Never Concede This Victory to Anyone” – PM Pashinyan

YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended an Army Day-dedicated festive event, which marked the 27th anniversary of the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan addressed the event with a congratulatory message, in which he stated as follows:

“An Indian thousand-year-old riddle asks: What is it that you do not notice as long as it has not gone away? The answer is as follows: health. And the meaning of the saying is that you must keep your health strong, because if it goes away, you can no longer bring it back.

Hopefully you did not think that I had mixed the papers and read the text of the speech on Health Worker’s Day. What does this saying have to do with the 27th anniversary of the Armenian Army? The connection is that security is like health: as long as it exists, it is perceived as something self-understood and assumed to be. On this solemn day of our Army’s anniversary, I believe it worth noting once again that the security we have is not just an apple fallen from the sky, but a reality that has been achieved through the efforts of thousands of freedom fighters: those officers who gave up their career in the Soviet Army and came back to protect the motherland; the first soldiers of our newly independent state, who defended their homeland at the cost of their health and life, sacrificing sometimes their well being and prosperity. And if we get health from God, our security, in this case the external security is provided by our armed forces, our army.

What does the Armenian army mean? It implies thousands of soldiers, contract servicemen and officers spending at least half year away from their families and relatives with sleepless nights in combat positions, ready to take on the blow and retaliate at any cost, including their own lives and health.

What is the Armenian army? It implies army positions a few thousand meters high in the mountains, or otherwise down in the plains where the temperature can exceed 50 degrees, and soldiers, officers who never look back, but look ahead

What is the Armenian army? It is a tremendous job of commanding, staffing, providing logistics, intelligence and supplies that can never stop just as one cannot stop breathing, whether asleep or awake.

Our Army is the pulse of our country, which does not stop for a second, whether the country is sleeping or awake. We often ignore its presence in everyday life just as we do not notice our breathing.

The 27th anniversary of our nation’s glorious army is being celebrated today, and we have gathered here to pay homage to our martyrs, all our freedom fighters, officers, soldiers, whose sacrifice is at the heart of our statehood and independence. We have gathered to our respectful attitude to all those parents and women who are waiting with pride and patience for their children or husbands to be back from service.

We have gathered today to reaffirm our covenants to our ancestors, our heroes and martyrs, our legendary military commanders and soldiers. We will never give up our homeland; we will never concede this victory to anyone.

Therefore, long live the Republic of Armenia! Long live the Republic of Artsakh! Glory to the victorious Armenian Army! Congratulations on the 27th Anniversary of the Armenian Army. Thank you.”