Armen Sarkissian Meets with Representatives from Culture, Sports, and NGOs

The President of the Republic, Armen Sarkissian, met with representatives from the culture and sports sectors, as well as from various non-governmental organizations. During the meeting, both sides emphasized the importance of the country's stability and a climate of tolerance, which are essential for solving existing problems and overcoming the current situation.

"This is a difficult time for all of us," said the President. "We need to look truth in the eye, analyze why we have reached this point, so that we can live today and be able to live tomorrow. I believe that every Armenian has experienced a storm within themselves, and that storm continues in many. This is understandable. It doesn't matter where a person lives—whether in Artsakh, Armenia, Sochi, Moscow, Paris, or Los Angeles. We are all Armenians and are all connected to our Homeland through our spiritual, intellectual, and national umbilical cord. This is, of course, a heavy storm."

The President pointed out that since the genuine victory in 1994, the difficulties have doubled. "But this does not mean that the feelings we have in our hearts and souls should turn into vandalism, violence, and hostility towards each other," said President Sarkissian. "I think each of us should realize that as Armenians, we have the most vital value—Armenian life. We cannot afford to be wasteful. A nation that lost 1.5 million people during the genocide cannot afford to be wasteful. Every Armenian life, regardless of the political party they belong to, whether they are good or bad, greedy or generous, male or female, old or young, is of immense value to us. We are poor in human resources. Each of us should treat the Armenian sitting next to us as a brother or sister. What guilt do the government building and the furniture in it, built by Tamanyan and purchased with taxpayers' money, carry? The same applies to the National Assembly building. If we have something to say, there is a human way of communicating—through tolerance and listening to each other."

The President noted that if there are issues and demands from a small or large sector of society, we must discuss and resolve all matters as a civilized people. "Today we have problems, difficulties, disagreements, and they must be resolved only and solely within the framework of law, legality, and statehood," stated the country's President. "As President, I call on all our compatriots that all our discussions should take place within the framework of law and legality. We are a family, and if there is misfortune in the family, blaming one another is not the issue at hand. Is it necessary to analyze why this happened? Of course. After that analysis, do we need to make the right conclusions? Certainly. If there is a need for changes within the family, absolutely. But only in a civilized manner. It is unacceptable even if you disagree with the Speaker of the National Assembly to treat him in a way that has been done."

At the same time, the President emphasized the importance of the law enforcement agencies' work, stating: "Under no circumstances should any police officer or service worker give reason for criticism. Not at all. Stability is essential." In response to a question regarding the recently signed tripartite statement concerning the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President Sarkissian particularly noted: "Today, Russian peacekeepers are already on the ground. Does this mean that everything is over? If you ask me, of course not."

The President stated that the first step should be to return everything to the Minsk Group process. "This is not a Minsk process; this is a tripartite document, a ceasefire," said the President of Armenia. "Everything must be done quickly to return to the Minsk process with the co-chairs from France, the USA, and Russia, which has been mandated to determine the final status of Artsakh. This document does not determine the final status of Artsakh. The Minsk process must be restored as soon as possible. Appropriate statements have already been made by the French Foreign Minister and the President's office. The French Foreign Minister has spoken with Lavrov, and there are signals from the USA, and all this indicates that the process is returning to the Minsk Group." The vision for resolving the issue is as follows: returning to the negotiations for the resolution of the Artsakh issue. But this is not enough. For those negotiations to succeed, a strong and powerful Artsakh and Armenia, along with the Armenian people, must stand behind them."

According to the President, to become strong in military terms, the path is to have a modern army. "Future wars will be much more complex and complex, electronic, and modern technologies will be involved; soldiers must be educated to utilize those technologies. Therefore, our task is clear—to turn Armenia into a country of modern technologies over the next few years," said the President. "That means everything from our educational system to industry must be directed towards the future. We cannot fall behind. Every time we fall behind in the economy, in the military, in all sectors, we will find ourselves one generation behind; therefore, we will not be able to win. Victory is not only on the battlefield. Which countries will be the leaders or be at the forefront? Those countries that will have modern technologies. The world is going that way. We must be at the forefront in both economic terms and for the future. Our path is clear: we must rise and organize ourselves. By 'organizing,' I mean national and state discipline."

It is time to evaluate what our army, our economy, and our science are like today. After assessing, we must have a clear vision; then, a program derived from that vision. The vision must clearly outline where we will be, for example, in 20 years. This small country has no other path. And how we will connect our brothers and sisters in the diaspora more closely with Armenia. Thank you all, as the chairman of the Armenia All-Armenian Fund board, for the nearly 200 million dollars in donations. However, I believe we can do more to ensure that our compatriots in the diaspora are indeed connected to their homeland."

Regarding the formula for moving forward, in response to a question from one of the participants, the President specifically said: "The way forward is very simple. Let us learn not to deceive ourselves; let us look truth in the eye, if we have 10 drams, let us say we have 10 drams, and not say we have 1000. If we see today that our army is not modern, let us say that our army is not modern. We must do everything to ensure that 10 years from now, our army is stronger than any country's army. We will not only build our army but also our economy. We must build a powerful homeland, and one component of that is that we do not have the right to deceive each other, to present our wishes as reality. Let us be disciplined, respectful towards one another. I call on all political forces to follow our people's example. Do soldiers on the battlefield check which party someone belongs to? No. On the battlefield, we were all supporters of one thing—our Homeland, our people. It is time for us to manage our emotions and apply cold logic. Our only obligation is to make our country strong, and our only path is to unite the nation. We are different, but we all belong to the same family. Have different opinions, different approaches, make choices according to your conscience, mind, or idea tomorrow, but never forget that you are all children of the same nation. Any change and development we can make in the country must be done in a civilized, disciplined, and realistic manner—without deceiving. I urge everyone to be tolerant, even in the most sensitive, difficult conditions, we should be able to adequately evaluate today and move forward tomorrow. It is unacceptable if we see clashes. All the institutions exist for you to express your joy or discontent, to organize discussions, listen, and debate. Each of us must understand that the energy we had must be multiplied because we have huge difficulties—war and its consequences, the coronavirus, the heavy state of the economy, the loss of young people, and it is imperative to support each family of every one of them. It is each of our responsibilities but primarily the state's to keep every family of the fallen in focus. The families of the fallen, our wounded soldiers must be the immediate concern of the state." The President also expressed gratitude to the medical workers, noting that during these days, our healthcare system is truly performing heroic work. President Armen Sarkissian wished peace to the people and all families. "We have many wounds that need healing," he said.