President Armen Sarkissian visited the Yerablur Pantheon today on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi.

President Sarkissian laid flowers at the graves of National Hero of the Republic of Armenia, Hero of Artsakh, Armenia’s First Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, National Heroes of the Republic of Armenia Monte Melkonyan, Jivan Abrahamyan, as well as General Andranik and the memorial wall dedicated to Armenians who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and independence of the Motherland.

The President of the Republic honored the memory of the immortals who sacrificed their lives for the Motherland with a moment of silence.

Speaking to reporters, President Sarkissian sent his congratulations on the occasion of the day to everyone in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora.

“Today I have come to visit the heroes of our liberation struggle. The symbolism is very deep. How did it happen that 28 years ago on the same day our people won a great victory, one of the most important victories of the liberation struggle, liberating Shushi. The liberation of Shushi, if we compare it with the Second World War, was the same as the battles of Stalingrad or Kursk. They just broke the logic of the war and opened the way to victory,” he stated.

Speaking about the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the President recalled that 300 thousand Armenians sacrificed their lives for that victory.

“Unfortunately, those 300,000 people do not have a grave in Armenia today, but their memory is with us. Of the 600,000 Armenians who fought in the battle, half sacrificed their lives. Our people gave more than a hundred heroes of the Soviet Union, five marshals … and it was not proportionate. A small nation had five marshals, more than sixty generals,” Armen Sarkissian said.

“It is natural that it was impossible to defeat that nation which had been one of the forerunners of the anti-fascist struggle,” he said.

“The name of one of the 300,000 Armenians who lost their lives 75 years ago will not be forgotten. Throughout the liberation struggle, especially today, the organizers of the liberation of Shushi, the fallen heroes, and those who are alive, regardless of where they are, what position they are in, what they are doing, they are all heroes. Such fatherhood does not grow old, it is endless. We are a truly victorious people in World War II and the liberation struggle,” the President stated.

“Such heroism does not grow old, it is eternal. We are a truly victorious people in the Second World War and in the liberation struggle,” he stated.