SERZH SARGSYAN PARTICIPATED AT THE 9TH CONVENTION OF THE VOLUNTEER HOMELAND DEFENDERS UNION
18.02.2012
President Serzh Sargsyan participated today at the 9th Convention of
the Volunteer Homeland Defenders Union which took place at the Karen
Demirjian Sport and Concert Complex. At the Convention, the President
of Armenia made a statement.
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Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan at the 9th Convention of the
Volunteer Homeland Defenders Union
Good Afternoon.
I am obligated to structure all my speeches according to the accepted
standards, to take into consideration how an official statement will
be received by the most diverse audiences so that words addressed
to the one do not indirectly upset or hurt the other. I have also
to consider every protocol nuance. To keep in line, today I should
have started like this, “I salute the delegates and guests of the
9th Convention of the Volunteer Homeland Defenders Union.” However,
I will not do that, because 25 years of shared path make me speak
and start in a different fashion – like this,
Folks, it’s good to see you again.
Vazgen used to say, “Homeland defenders are one of our greatest
achievements, if not the greatest. They shielded with their bodies,
with their blood the borders of our country and it was their blood
that spearheaded creation of the Army of this country.” Vazgen was
right. It is true that homeland defenders are not border troops – they
are the border itself. The homeland defender is a parent who spread
his wings over the fires, covered the blow with his own body as long
as was need for his child – the young Armenian Army – to grow up and
mature. On September 21st that very Army, its young and mature men and
women marched proudly down the Republic Square. It was thanks to you,
folks, thanks to all our folks and thanks to our nation, its struggle,
deprivations, and unbending spirit.
Honor and glory to them all, all those who are not here today. And
certainly, honor and glory to the folks who fell on the battlefield
and yet continue to bring up generations through their spirit and
their example: Everlasting glory to their memory.
Long live those who reinforce the power of our pivot. That pivot is
created of the material which makes the Armenian brand, the Armenian
system of values. That pivot originates from the depths of times.
At the critical times for the Armenian nation, at the times of
life and death challenges, taut strings of the Armenian bows were
ringing again and again. And that calling awakened the bearers of a
rebellious and righteous Armenian character. In one night that call
turns the people of the most peaceful occupations, most peaceful
Armenian laborers – teachers, farmers, journalists, tractor drivers
and workers – into warriors and courageous commanders. They become an
unbending and adamant willpower and rise against the enemy. That’s
how it was from Hayots Dzor to Shushi, from Avarayr to Sardarapat,
from Vaspurakan to Bash Aparan and Karvatchar. It will be that way
again in the centuries to come, if the foe’s sudden sword attempts
to darken the Armenian skies again.
At the end of the last century, the world had witnessed once again
transformation of the Armenian, who this time emerged as a volunteer
defender of the homeland. When an Armenian volunteer was asked in
bewilderment, “You have five children, how can you go to war?” he
responded, “I go to this war because I have five children, so that
they live in a safe country.”
The fist of the Armenian homeland defenders crashed the backbone of
the enemy’s phalanx, brought the enemy to his knees and enforced him
into peace.
Homeland defender’s spirit and skills forged at the battlefield became
the Armenian Army. Heroism of the brave, who fell at the battlefield,
became a lesson of patriotism for the thousands of children who are
being educated and will be educated in the Armenian schools. Combat
brotherhood of the homeland defenders has become an anchor of social
accord which would lend a hand to our society in times of need. And
such days have not been few in the last two decades. The hand was
landed by the nation, which was standing at the brink of rift and
which supported by this unyielding pivot of values would conquer
every dividing line and re-find the road of advancement.
The homeland defender came back home. He returned to his peaceful
work, his pen and shovel. The lecturer stood before his abandoned
audience, the student occupied his sit in auditorium. The homeland
defender assumed the leadership of the country and rode his neglected
tractor. Today, looking at a scrawny and humble toiling peasant
in a distant village somewhere in Tavush, who is not too tall,
salt-and-pepper already in his hair, and it’s hard to believe that
you’re facing a man who inspired awe into the enemy during the Artsakh
war years. The homeland defender participated also in the arduous job
of the army building, giving his experience and confidence to young
soldiers and commanders.
He was filled and filled the entire nation with the confidence of his
leader, the Sparapet that “the beginning of the 21st century will
see the formation of the new type of Armenian, who will be become
the carrier of its national ideology, void of the inferiority fears,
daring, confident, with a glorious history behind his shoulders,
and with the horizons in front…”
And this nation, which has countless centuries to come, will remember
for a long, long time the wisdom of the homeland defender, as he put
it, “There cannot be a former homeland defender; if needed, for our
fatherland we and our friends are ready to put on our uniforms again.”
(M. Grigorian). Dear Manvel, let God grant us no necessity to do that.
Dear Homeland Defenders,
Being a non-political organization, the Union of Homeland Defenders
in our society has been holding a social and even political weight
and role. Let’s admit that at times there were also conflicting
views about the Defenders. A person returning from a war has been
having serious problems in all times related to the accommodation to
a peaceful life, problems related to finding a place and role in the
new milieu. These problems are psychological, as well as public and
social. Today, with the years’ experience before our eyes, we can
state that the Union of Homeland Defenders was predominantly able
to solve this problem. Moreover, the Homeland Defenders have always
been dignified as befits the solder of the fatherland. Social and
political behavior of the Union of the Homeland Defenders has been
having its positive influence on our society. The atmosphere in our
country is also shaped by their civil position.
Today, in the person of the Union, we have an organization which is
concerned with the future of our country and our nation, which is
far away from opportunism and has its precise and principled stance
on every critical issue we face.
Present in this hall are individuals, who at the time of danger showed
no fear, for whom Armenia and Artsakh are above politics and everything
else. I repeat, everything else. Many of them are my fellow comrades
in arms, and I am proud of it.
But the victory has not finished but has given a start to a new task –
building of a free and just Armenia.
Today, there are processes underway in our country which will
positively change the country, providing it with characteristics that
befit a country of the 21st century civilization. This is a call of
the times, and there is no other way for Armenia to develop. It’s a
huge and strenuous task, but we will accomplish it. We will accomplish
it standing shoulder to shoulder; united we will succeed.
Armenia is entering a new course of development. We are building a
new country, a new society and a new citizen. Discipline and freedom,
public order and democracy – they complement and condition each other.
The citizen of Armenia will be as free as law-abiding.
All strata of our society demand a free and just country; they demand
also a rule of law; not in the future but here and now. And they
are right.
Meanwhile, there are individuals among us who overestimate their
abilities, who simply abuse the difficulties; there are also impatient
and suspicious ones, whose faith has been shaken because they met with
injustice or lawlessness. We have to continue to change, restoring our
faith – faith in our own strength, our country and future for Armenia.
The country is changing by day. Many of negative phenomena, which
were habitual yesterday, today are extinct. Some of negative trends
expanded, some new have come into existence. Changes will first of all
be aimed at eradicating them. We have taken the course of Armenia’s
comprehensive modernization. Modernization will affect our political
and legal structure, our industry, education and science. We have
to become a modern nation, which is competitive and is ready to face
the challenges of the current times.
Armenia is a country of victorious people. It simply cannot be poor
or backward. In a country of victorious people, the person’s dignity
cannot be abused. We see that everywhere in the world, almost every
nation stood up for its dignity. We were among the first who did it,
and have to achieve results faster.
Distinguished Homeland Defenders,
People in this hall symbolize the human and national dignity at its
best. You had gone to battle armed with that dignity. You live with
it. We are building a new Armenia, which will personify our human and
national dignity. I have no doubt that we will succeed. To succeed,
we have to believe. We have to believe to carry on with the changes.
Stay firm, folks. I wish you every success.