Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan, Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, and the top leadership of the Republic of Armenia visited the Sardarapat Battle Memorial Complex on Republic Day.

The Prime Minister delivered a speech at the memorial complex, in which, in particular, he noted:

"Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia, Honorable President of the National Assembly, Honorable President of the Constitutional Court, Honorable representatives of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, gentlemen generals and officers, honorable servants, honorable guests,

Today, we celebrate Republic Day, which is associated with a truly turning point in our thousand-year history—the establishment of the First Republic. The First Republic, embodied in the heroic Battle of Sardarapat, did not have a long life; its existence lasted only two years and a few months.

But the First Republic turned us from a nation that had been stateless for 4.5 centuries into a state-built people. For the first time in our history, a state system was outlined—a Republic, where the people of Armenia are the ones who hold power and decide through elections who and how to govern the state.

The First Republic renewed but did not strengthen our perception of statehood. It sowed but did not uproot democracy and freedom in us because it did not have time for that.

For almost the entire duration of the Soviet Union's existence, the First Republic was targeted as evil and became an object of ridicule and contempt. The empire thereby pursued the goal of destroying the sprouts of an independent state that the First Republic could have re-sprouted in our consciousness.

When Armenia regained independence in 1991, it seemed that the 70-year-old propaganda had not left a deep mark on us; our fears of being independent and self-sufficient had been overcome.

But now, a retrospective analysis of the history of the Third Republic makes it evident that our disdain for statehood and our fears of sovereignty and independence have not been fully overcome; we often continue to perceive history and the world through the formulas that the imperial propaganda of the USSR consistently instilled in us. This is why I am convinced that to ensure the permanence of our state and identity, we must first overcome this, allowing us to record and digest several key realities.

Reality No. 1 – Our identity is our state; our state is our identity because all the features that determine our identity were acquired, formed, and established thanks to statehood, that is, under the conditions of the existence of statehood, by state decisions and or state support.

Reality No. 2 – The Republic of Armenia, with an internationally recognized territory of 29,743 square kilometers, expresses our people's achievements, not losses. Our people no longer need to search for a homeland; there is no need to dream about a homeland because our dreams have been fulfilled; the motherland has been found in the person of the Republic of Armenia, in the person of the state. Since 2020, having gone through cruel trials at the cost of the lives of our martyrs, we have received a historic opportunity to develop our sovereignty, realize statehood, and make it permanent; today, we are more of a state than ever; we are more sovereign than ever, we are more independent than ever.

Fact number 3 – Our history of the last 4.5 centuries, Historical Armenia, has sent us one central message: "Do not repeat that history," "Do not follow my path," and "Do not repeat me." This is a quote from the message of our history and Historical Armenia of the last 450 years. These are the messages that history and Historical Armenia send us. And the Government of the Republic of Armenia, formed by the people's choice, has understood and is implementing this historical message.

Reality No. 4—Security guaranteed by external forces is deceptive. We ourselves are the guarantors of our security, and the effective means of guaranteeing this security are, first of all, political and diplomatic tools, the regulation of relations with immediate neighbors, the establishment of peace with neighbors and not with distant ones, and, on this basis, conducting a balanced foreign policy and the opportunities it creates.

Reality No. 5 – The state is a responsibility; freedom is a responsibility. The long-term freedom and well-being of society and each individual are directly proportional to the public and individual awareness of this reality and the code of conduct arising from that awareness. Evading responsibility for freedom and the state is the path to the loss of both freedom and statehood. The quality of the fulfillment of this responsibility and the affinity for this responsibility guarantee each citizen's freedom and well-being.

These realities record the ideology of the Real Armenia, emphasizing, "The homeland is the state, do you love your homeland, strengthen your state," "Get rich and enrich yourself with individual effort," "Here is the homeland - here is bread, here is the state - here is a stay," "Armenia is my home, the people are my family."

Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia, Honorable President of the National Assembly, Honorable President of the Constitutional Court, Honorable representatives of the legislative, executive, judicial authorities, gentlemen generals and officers, esteemed guests,

Our process, which leads to the permanence, state independence, sovereignty, prosperity, and freedom of the Republic of Armenia, is entering a historically decisive stage. In the previous period, we have had undeniable successes. The draft agreement "On the establishment of peace and interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan" has been agreed upon, and the negotiations on the draft agreement have been completed. We are currently holding bilateral consultations with Azerbaijan to reach agreements on the terms and circumstances of signing the Agreement; an active dialogue has been established between Armenia and Turkey, relations between Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are at an unprecedented high level, and a strategic partnership has been established between Armenia and Georgia.

Armenia's international prestige is growing visibly, and the fact that in 2026, our country will host two prestigious and large-scale events in Europe and the world—the 8th Summit of the European Political Community and the COP-17 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity—is visible proof of this.

One of the most essential realities of 2025 is that border control at all border points of the Republic of Armenia will now be carried out exclusively by our country's border guards, which is unprecedented. We continue to develop close relations with the Russian Federation and China, we have established a strategic partnership with the United States, our partnership with India is deepening, and our relations with France and the European Union are at an unprecedented high level.

Republic and democracy are realities, balanced and balanced foreign policy is a reality, sovereignty, and independence are realities, and the state is a reality, and we must appreciate and cherish these achievements.

We have overcome the period of our history of losses and entered a promising era of our history of achievements. Pessimism and despair are no longer companions of the Republic of Armenia.

The companions of the Republic of Armenia are state-centered self-awareness, knowledge-based knowledge of the world, development, and democracy. Peace and security will become long-term companions of the Republic of Armenia. There will be no war; there will be peace.

I congratulate everyone on the occasion of Republic Day.

Glory to the martyrs, and long live the Republic of Armenia."

The national anthem of the Republic of Armenia was played, and a festive march took place.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan laid a wreath at the memorial complex, perpetuating the memory of the heroes of the Battle of Sardarapat and paying tribute to their memory.