Message by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of Victory and Peace Day

Dear Compatriots,

I cordially congratulate you on the occasion of Victory and Peace Day.

For our nation the WWII was really a Patriotic War. Many of the sons of our nation fought for the freedom of our Fatherland and its bright future. They fought at all fronts, at the battle field and at the home front. Today, we pay tribute and express gratitude to the bright memory of our heroic predecessors, hundred thousands of whom fell in the struggle with the evil. We also pay tribute and express gratitude to a sadly small number of veterans who today stand with us.

This holiday is dedicated not only to the military victory but also to peace. Along with other nations of the Soviet Union, we paid dearly for the victory and earned peace. That victory had given us a historic chance to get again as a nation to our feet economically, culturally, and politically. We know all too well the price of that victory.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

For us, May 9 was reconsidered and reassessed with the liberation of Shushi in 1992. The cultural center of Artsakh, which for centuries had always been spreading light, education, science and arts, was turned into a monstrous weapon emplacement which was spreading death and destruction all around. For us, liberation of Shushi was the matter of life and death; on May 9 we repeated the heroic act of our fathers and grandfathers and changed the course of the war.

Twenty-four years later, last month now sons of the liberators of Shushi repeated the heroic act of their fathers. This time, these were not the fidayi units but regiments of the mature regular army. They proved that each new generation of the Armenian nation is ready to again and resolutely defend our security, peace, and rights.

Dear Compatriots,

I congratulate us all on this glorious holiday. I wish us all peaceful skies and productive work.