Exactly 10 years ago these days, there was a war that lasted only 4 days and remained in the memory of all of us as the Four Day War. It ended on April 5, at 12:00, when the enemy was forced to ask for a ceasefire the day before. On April 4, in the presence of the ambassadors of the OSCE member states invited to the RA president’s residence, I already announced that if the military operations continue and become large-scale, the Republic of Armenia will recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh.

Dear Republicans,

Welcoming you all to the regular 18th congress of our party, I suggest that before we go to our work today, we remember and pay tribute to the bright memory of our martyr heroes who sacrificed their lives for the defense of the Motherland in the Four Day War. They have shown many examples of incredible courage and self-sacrifice.

Let us express our gratitude to all the military personnel, from the top commanding staff to the rank and file soldiers, who thwarted the plans of the aggressor enemy in that war and imposed a ceasefire in a few days.

Let us honor the immortal memory of the brave men who sacrificed their lives for the defense of our Motherland, both in the Four-Day War and in all times, with a minute’s silence.

Thanks and honor to them.

The results of the April 2016 war are proof of the strength of our army, effective diplomatic work, national will and unity.
And today, when the decade of the Four-Day War is over, we are obliged to thoroughly evaluate the events of those days, their impact on the negotiation process and the internal political life of our country.

It is obvious that the objectives of the enemy, who started large-scale military operations, failed, because he failed not only to break our defensive front line, but also our unity, faith and dignity.

On those days, the united Armenian people from all over the world showed that their choice is dignified peace, and self-defense is the guarantee and inalienable right to live safely in their homeland. In those days, both the Armenian army and the Armenian diplomacy together served the interests of the two Armenian states and the Armenian people.

But various foreign-funded organizations soon began to spread targeted lies, as if the Armenian side had many casualties, the soldiers had a shortage of ammunition and food, the military equipment was not provided with diesel fuel, and various defamatory, baseless rumors and accusations about the Armenian Army.

2018 after the seizure of power, within the framework of the plan to deliberately discredit and weaken the army, the rulers of Armenia continued to spread various and despicable speculations, gossips and fabrications about the April four-day war, then they created an investigative commission in the National Assembly and had to accept the reality that all of that was a lie, a forgery, poison and blasphemy. The exploits of our boys, our victory and our unity were real.

In those days, the people were one whole, the state with its army, the steel shield of the Motherland. They were days of struggle, days of dignity, days of unity, heroism and fateful days.

I spoke about it thoroughly both in the investigative commission and during my first press conference.

By the way, today I would like to address again the thesis “why didn’t you recognize the independence of Artsakh before?”

Of course, you remember that in 2008, taking advantage of the internal political disputes in Armenia, Azerbaijan launched a diplomatic attack and passed a resolution contradicting the Madrid principles in the UN General Assembly. All OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries voted against that resolution. It also did not receive the support of the EU member states.
And at that time I conveyed to the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group that Armenia will recognize the independence of Artsakh Republic in two cases. firstly, if there is a long-term, large-scale war, and secondly, if the co-chairs of the Minsk Group do not stop Azerbaijan’s diplomatic encroachments in order to move the resolution of the Artsakh issue to another platform, including the UN General Assembly.

When the rulers of Armenia speculate on this issue, my response is very clear. Apart from these 2 occasions, the recognition of Artsakh would in itself lead to the isolation of Armenia from the international community and a large-scale war. There was no large-scale war “during the time of the ancients”. It did not happen thanks to our combative army and our effective diplomatic work, therefore the negotiation process was not put under attack. During their time, the war of 2020, unfortunately, had already taken a large scale, had disastrous consequences and was not stopped because of a cowardly populist and dragged on for 44 days, what if they don’t call him a traitor.

I ask a question: if all these factors were present, a large-scale and long-lasting war, which, despite mediation efforts, did not stop, then why did you not recognize Artsakh? What else could happen after that?

And when such claims are made from outside that even you didn’t recognize them, what do you want from us? But, thank God, the participants of the negotiation process are still there, and don’t they know that we agreed with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs not to hurry, not to provoke a war and not to fail the Minsk Group’s work?

One thing is obvious, that if after the victory of 2016 the feelings of high national dignity, unity, faith in the Armenian army were strengthened again among our people, as well as the positions of the Armenian side at the negotiating table, then, unfortunately, after the forty-four day war of 2020, as a result of the activities of the anti-national, capitulating rulers, a severe internal political crisis, despair, mistrust of one’s own forces and society was formed in Armenia. polarization, and compromises at the negotiating table were replaced by unilateral concessions.

There is an unwritten law in the world: the leader of a capitulated country must leave. Otherwise, the country suffers irreparable and disproportionate losses. Alas, the ruler of Armenia chose to keep his seat instead of defending the state, and we unfortunately lost a part of our homeland. On the other hand, the Republic of Armenia continues to be threatened.

Dear party friends,

One of the important issues to be discussed at our congress today is the position of the Republican Party regarding not participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections. As you know, three days ago the Executive body of the party made a decision to refrain from participating in those national elections.

I know that this decision is not liked by some. I know that if we work properly, we would overcome the threshold of four percent necessary for the party.
But I also know another truth, which I reaffirm from this pulpit. We need a change of power, we are not interested in the prospect of having several mandates. The past years further prove the truth of this decision.

And I assure you and our people that even without participating, or rather without directly participating in these elections, the Republican party will continue to be one of the pioneers of the struggle in the focus of political developments.

As our luminary friend Galust Sahakyan would say, not participating is not not fighting.

But before talking about several initiatives proposed by us to other healthy opposition forces, I want to announce that we are not participating in these elections in order to.

A) let’s not divide the opposition field even more.
B) Let’s give an opportunity to implement their promises to all those forces, which seem as if their former predecessors are preventing them from making a change of power.
C) In the political field, let’s serve as an example of subordinating one’s own “I”, narrow party interests, one’s own political calculations for the sake of common success.
D) And finally, this decision is largely due to the fact that carefully conducted sociological research shows that Republicans and our supporters, almost without exception, are going to participate in the elections and vote only and only for the opposition political forces. In other words, the votes of our voters will not be lost, but will join the votes of the voters of the opposition forces, contributing to the suspension of the reproduction of these authorities.
Our ego, hardened by life and struggle, dear party members, has never turned into egoism and will never turn into egoism. It is not allowed.

This decision was not given to us easily, but I have no doubt that we will never be ashamed of it, on the contrary, we will become the best example of acting with the ideology of “with my party, but for my nation” in the modern political history of Armenia.

And as I already said, not participating is not giving up the struggle. Aiming to contribute to the united efforts of the opposition forces to defeat this disastrous regime, the Republican Party presents the following recommendations to the real opposition as practical steps for joint struggle in the near term.

First, as you know, two major events will be held in Yerevan on May 4 and 5. first, the summit of the European Political Community, and then the first summit of the European Union-Armenia.
Recent years have shown that European high-ranking leaders do not want to see the reality that exists in Armenia, preferring to console themselves with sweet-sounding tales about democracy in our country, which are miles away from reality.

Occupied Artsakh, problems of ethnically cleansed Artsakh Armenians, spiritual cultural heritage being destroyed in Artsakh, captured and hostage Armenians suffering in Baku prisons, political prisoners in Yerevan, illegal attacks and pressures on the Armenian Apostolic Church, unprecedented restrictions on freedom of speech, police and judicial systems dictated by the ruling political power with their illegal actions. this is all that Europeans prefer not to notice.

And we, as an experienced and responsible party, offer the other opposition forces, who will be busy exclusively with their campaigns, to entrust us with the task of jointly, I repeat, jointly, developing and implementing initiatives on the days of these events. Within the framework of the law and European political culture of several dozen high-ranking delegations, the whole reality about Armenia’s “democracy” should be presented.

What this regime has planned as an election party should and can become an opportunity to present the bitter reality of our country before the elections, a moment of truth. And the Republican Party can coordinate all this in cooperation with other opposition forces, if, of course, they will be interested in such a proposal, and if they will find time to join and deal with these nationwide issues together.
Secondly, there is a lot of talk about the fact that in order to win the regime in the upcoming elections, it is necessary to motivate our citizens, to ensure a high rate of participation.

We announce that the activities of the Republican Party from this congress until June 7 will be aimed at promoting the participation of our compatriots in the national elections, under the slogan “Let them go”, with various actions, propaganda, information campaigns, meetings with residents.

We will use every opportunity to convince our citizens to go to the polling stations and choose such forces that will put an end to today’s humiliation of Armenia, put an end to this conspiratorial, disastrous regime.

Thirdly, it is no secret that at this stage the real opposition forces declare that they exclude any cooperation with the ruling regime.

Many times we have been convinced, and, alas, here we also have our bitter experience after the last parliamentary elections, that political forces can make such statements, but there are always individuals who violate that decision and weaken the opposition field, leaning towards the camp of the ruling regime.

Therefore, we suggest that, in addition to similar statements of the main opposition forces, those in the first three dozen of the pre-election list of those forces take a moral obligation not to cooperate with the capitulating regime, not to leave the opposition field, by signing a corresponding memorandum and actually combining their political and personal positions.

And finally, fourthly, it is known that not only the fight against this regime, but also the plan to get our country out of the situation after the change of power was important in the work of our party.

You know that our party friends and specialists have been working on that plan for weeks, and we have compiled a database of possible and priority steps and proposals for approaches in various fields.

Since the Republican Party will not participate in the upcoming elections, we are ready to provide that repository with many program provisions to any opposition force that is interested in it.

If you remember, just a few months ago, in the resolution adopted at the extended council session of our party’s 35th anniversary, considering it imperative to get rid of capitulating authorities a day earlier, we defined three priorities after the change of power:

1. Creating an atmosphere of solidarity within the country, as a matter of national security, without, of course, leaving unpunished the adventurers and the unforgivable crimes of the current capitulation regime.

2. Restoration of combat capability of the RA armed forces in accordance with the challenges of the 21st century.

3. Formation of a diplomatic corps of high professional quality and restoration of relations with allies and partners of the Republic of Armenia, distinguishing partners from allies, revaluing and giving a new meaning to the political, economic and security components of RA’s foreign relations.
Until we achieve these priorities, they remain our party’s short-term and long-term priorities.

Our vision is not just a list of promises or dreams. it is a moral obligation and never a false civil contract.

We will not accept the existence of any “corridor” through our sovereign territory, no matter how insidiously they mislead us that it is not a “corridor”. It in no way implies lifting the blockade of Armenia. By whatever name they call it, it is the centuries-old dream of our unfriendly neighbors, which they do not even hide.

We have expressed our concern about TRIPP and will come to a final conclusion after fully exploring its nature, components, means of implementation and mechanisms.

We consider that the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations should proceed not from the position of weakness, but from the position of the potential of national unity.

A balanced foreign policy should be restored, aiming not to satisfy others, but to serve the interests of the Armenian people.
Armenia should be neither a client state, nor a parasitic state, nor an ethnographic museum.

Dear Republicans,

The mission and goal of the Republican Party, as well as our approaches to the main principles and directions of the state’s activity, are very clearly stated in the principles of our party’s program. But nowhere is it mentioned that all that makes sense only when we have power.

These principles are the basis of the value system of our political power, the core of our actions in all situations, whether we are the government or the opposition. And we have proved it. Republicans are a political force not by position, but by idea.

The role of political power does not begin and end with elections or power. it can work effectively outside the government as well. For this reason, no election can determine our future activities in the political field.

We will continue our journey with this same conviction, regardless of the circumstances, firmly based on our values, serving the nation and the state with the awareness of responsibility, as we have been doing for 35 years.

Dear colleagues,

The parliamentary elections of June 7, 2026 are not just another national election. They are, in fact, a referendum on the existence of Armenian statehood. Those elections will take place regardless of our attitude. But, tell me, please, is there a political force that is not close to the government, which will say that the administration in Armenia has not failed, and there is no national crisis with all its characteristic manifestations?

Our faction in the National Assembly published a draft statement during the hearings on this topic months ago, in which the existence of a crisis and the failure of governance in the country are presented in a completely well-argued and well-argued manner.
Our Constitution offers a tool to resolve the crisis in such cases, and that is to express no confidence in the current Prime Minister.

I have said and I insist that elections cannot be opposed to impeachment under any circumstances. And if all healthy political forces agree with us that it is destructive for the current rulers to stay in power for even one day, and it is necessary to carry out a change of power a day before, then it is strange to blame us for taking the impeachment initiative instead of the election agenda.

What guarantee do they have that if this destructive process is not prevented, our state will not face irreversible consequences? In such conditions, every day can be decisive, and inaction can be fatal. This is not a move for its own sake, but a way to prevent greater losses and create a new political situation where it will be possible to form a reliable government through real competitive elections. Otherwise, if we continue to procrastinate and be guided only by electoral processes, we can simply multiply the list of irreversible losses.

Dear party members,

There are periods in history when the country faces a choice. not between parties, not between individuals, but between dignity and conformity, between existence and non-existence, between truth and falsehood. Today we live in just such times. And history shows that people overcome the crisis at the moment when they decide not to live in that pseudo-reality anymore, when at some point they say: enough is enough, we will no longer tolerate irresponsibility, adaptation, falsehood, indifference, enough division.

It is obvious that the governance of the country today is based on lies and irresponsibility. The strongest aspect of the rulers of Armenia is their lack of shame. They can look people straight in the eye and shamelessly lie and slander.

That’s how, saying “we will win” in the 44-day war, they led to defeat, saying “Artsakh is Armenia and that’s it” they handed over Artsakh, saying “we handed over Artsakh to protect Armenia” they left the borders of Armenia unprotected and allowed the enemy to penetrate those borders unhindered, occupy territories, saying “we are a bastion of democracy in the region” they established a dictatorship in the country, declaring “we have red lines in negotiations” they didn’t have any such line, saying “we are reforming the army” they weakened and destroyed the army, saying “we are the people’s servants” living lavishly at the expense of the people and mocking them with entertainment scenes and until now they make fun of that same people, saying “we are the guarantor of Artsakh’s security”, in the end they left alone Artsakh, which fought heroically until the last second, and then brazenly announced that the people of Artsakh fled from their country, their homeland.

The immorality and irony have reached the point where a man whose entire life and political biography is based on escape and flight calls the heroic people of Artsakh as fugitives or fugitives.

During the 44-day war, he ran away from the responsibility of defeat in the war he led
after the war, he ran away from his own people and hid in a bunker in fear.

There is only one thing left for this chain to get its final look, for him to escape from his government office, only before bringing another disaster to our country.

They also say that CSTO took us to the slaughterhouse in 2020. Of course, the CSTO is not the most effective military-political structure in the world, but how was it that the same CSTO adopted a special document related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the summit in Yerevan in 2016, where it also stipulated the need to realize the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh.

It was necessary to work correctly and patiently with CSTO. Not to spoil the relations before the war, and after the war not to take the attitude of aggrieved and, at the same time, recently shamelessly agreed to receive a high state award from one of the CSTO member countries.
These wasted all the diplomatic successes of Armenia. At the end of last year, the documents of the Artsakh negotiations were selectively published as a witness.

I want to emphasize again from this podium. I have always negotiated to internationally guarantee the realization of the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh.

We have always negotiated for the strengthening of the sovereign statehood of Artsakh.

I have never hesitated to approach the world powers diplomatically, but clearly formulated our expectations and negotiated to implement them. The package of published documents – a witness.

Artsakh’s negotiation heritage, yes, has also been squandered, squandered with immoral, anti-state steps and knowingly.

A war was waged, and a war was brought closer to that path, during which no partner stood by our country, because everyone was fed up with the leader who put himself in the place of a madman and put his own people on the altar of geopolitical games.

No, CSTO did not take us to the slaughterhouse, you took us to the slaughterhouse. And now their insolence has reached the point where they threaten their own people with war.

Can you imagine, those who bring war are looking for war bringers?

Artsakh surrenderers are looking for Artsakh surrenderers.

Although why am I surprised, until now those who brought Nicole are still looking for others who bring Nicole. Our political field seems like a festival of hypocrisy and a parade of hypocrisy.

Gentlemen, we are not in those games. We are supporters of fair game rules.

Only you have brought war and are ready to bring it again, and the one who brings war must reap what he has sown, at least with a change of power, and at the most with punishment, with the full severity of the law.
This is required not only by the rule of divine justice, but also by the vital interest of our people.
They say: “either us or war”. In other words, we are forced to choose between fear and evil as the only option. While in reality there is another option, for example, another government: a strong negotiating team, another government: a new security strategy,
other power – a mutually beneficial alliance, and this series can be continued as an alternative to fear and evil.

Judging by the ever-increasing public dissatisfaction with the capitulant regime, which is also documented by sociological research, we can claim that our people no longer want to live under conditions of lies, humiliation, and tyranny and have already made that very important choice for themselves. How well the results of that election will be protected in June depends to a large extent on the work to be done before that day, because if this continues, when the current regime arrests political rivals on trumped-up charges, represses their supporters, spends state funds differently than they would have spent in a non-election year, when it silences free speech with violent methods and prisons, suppresses the media that criticizes the government, when it changes the rules of the electoral game without broad agreement, when state structures and public politics uses resources exclusively to serve the political agenda of the government, when it creates an obvious inequality in the information field and limits the spread of alternative opinions by various methods, we can already consider the elections to be rigged.

And when, in addition to the above, some external actors openly emphasize their preference before the elections, thus rudely and illegally interfere in the electoral process in favor of the incumbent rulers, then all the factors I have mentioned together form an environment where the outcome of the elections may depend not only on the free expression of the people, but also on unequal conditions in the political field. After all this, I ask a question: how does forgery happen, if not like this? Therefore, the problem is not only the election day. the problem is the environment that is formed before the elections. So here is something to seriously think about and be concerned about.

Here I would like to make an important statement: if impeachment does not happen, regardless of which political forces will participate in the elections, if the current regime seizes power again under unequal conditions, by abusing administrative resources and using other unacceptable methods, the Republican Party is ready to take its place in the first ranks of the post-election struggle.

Dear colleagues,

We are not here to applaud and praise each other, that would be too frivolous and irresponsible. We should not hesitate and are obliged to talk about our mistakes and failures. And this is not the first such case. Using the example of our party, we can say that the analysis of mistakes does not weaken, but strengthens. Because a political force that cannot accept its past cannot build a future. It will give us the opportunity to look forward freely, learn from mistakes, and act realistically. Yes, we must admit that the opposition forces, including us, the republicans, failed the process of creating a broad national movement, the unification of the opposition forces around a common goal, which could stop this madness. We are left divided, suspicious of each other, carrying the burden of old contradictions while the ship continues to sink.

My national forces, during these years, we were separate parts standing against the patriot rulers, but we did not become a complete alternative. And while we are eating each other’s flesh in that bitter internal struggle, dirty merchants are trying to beautifully package and sell at the price of their own chair everything that we have built together with the best children of our people for decades with blood and sweat.

During the entire period of their administration, analyzing the situation, we predicted, often clearly saw, raised our voices, warned about the risks of the “peace at any cost” agenda, which brought and are bringing to our state and people, but, alas, we could not turn the prediction into a prevention.

In the course of our work, we have had failures, which, let’s admit, are as much ours as those of all national forces. I often ask myself: and what is the value of so many efforts, when the main problem set before us five years ago has not been solved, and the power grabs continue to unhindered and shamelessly destroy the foundations of the state, when our society remains divided, the opposition is disunited, the only pillar that unites us, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, is under attack.

This question may lead many people to despair, but neither me nor you, who, as Republicans, from the ranks of the Independence Army, to the ranks of the Armenian regular army, to the ranks of the oppressed opposition, have passed the trials that have been assigned to you with honor and are passing them until now. We must understand where we failed, where we miscalculated, what circumstances we did not take into account before our actions, including when observing the behavior of the capitulators, when observing the behavior of our opposition partners, how effectively we worked with our society, in short, what are our weak and strong points? These are always relevant questions for any political force.

Have we imagined that populist power grabbers can violate the Constitution in broad daylight, ignore all written and unwritten moral norms, shamelessly sell our national values ​​in exchange for keeping their seat and not bear any responsibility? At one time, the capitulant accused that the current Constitution is “a suit sewn in Serzh Sargsyan’s clothes”, and now here and there, he is preparing to “sewn a suit in Aliyev’s clothes” from our Constitution, because that is what Aliyev and his older brother want.

We criticize external actors for their behavior towards our country. But we should also ask ourselves: why does the international community behave this way? The answer is harsh. because Armenia has lost its dignity. Because these have made us a country that can be pushed to the door. Because, on the one hand, they fail to create mutually beneficial, I repeat, mutually beneficial, institutional ties with the West, and on the other hand, they spoil the relations built on mutual respect with Russia.

Meanwhile, foreign policy should not turn into such relations with other countries, when others in your country promote only their own vital interests, not caring about your own interests. This is no longer foreign policy, but in the service of foreign interests, acceptance of foreign dictates.

Let’s look at the “real” Armenia of today, as they like to repeat.

Geopolitically, we are isolated. The crisis in relations with Russia, until these last two or three days, was hidden behind easy money and commodity circulation grown on artificial stimulants. CSTO membership is frozen, but we have no other security guarantees from anywhere. The once neighborly relations with the neighboring Iran have turned into fearful, faceless relations, when they are afraid to even express condolences in time for the death of the spiritual leader and a number of representatives of the military-political leadership of that country.

As we have already seen, the EU observation mission observes, but does not protect. And there is still a question about what will happen in the future. The American partnership, which was announced with great fanfare, is conditioned by a fake “peace agenda”, i.e. acceptance of humiliating conditions in Azerbaijan under daily threat, from which we gain nothing, instead, we face enormous dangers in our own sovereign territory.

And if someone claims that the head of a powerful state like the United States is the guarantor of that peace, then I have a question: why are Aliyev’s ambitions and direct threats against the territories of the Republic of Armenia silent in his public speeches? Or do they not contain the risk of provoking a conflict, and referring to the Declaration of Independence in the Constitution of Armenia, even uttering the phrase “Republic of Artsakh” during the liturgy, is considered a call to war for some insane cowards?

If this continues, it is not excluded that after some time it will be forbidden to pronounce the phrase “Republic of Armenia”, instead “Western Azerbaijan” will be considered non-conflict. Will they not put peace under attack?

Maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration, but, unfortunately, during these eight years, we saw actions, we saw phenomena that we could not have imagined under any circumstances.

Dear colleagues,

After the previous congress, until today, from the positions of the opposition, we continue to fight against the process by which the current rulers are destroying the state, brick by brick, while at the same time chanting defiance of the non-existent democracy.
Today, at the regular congress of the party, we are obliged to be accountable, to talk about the work we have done in the past years to solve intra-party problems, their results, as well as much more important for the Republican party, cross-party, nationwide problems and concerns, the steps taken with our participation to overcome them, our mistakes and achievements, and what is important, what we have to do in this crucial period.

However, before that, let us warmly remember our party friends who said goodbye to earthly life during this time, including Razmik Zohrabyan, Galust Sahakyan, Vazgen Karakhanyan, who stood at the beginnings of the Republican party. Their memory is vivid in our hearts, and their life path is a symbol of unconditional dedication and indomitable struggle.

After the previous congress of the party, unfortunately, tragic and fatal events took place in our country, which not only had an inevitable impact on the internal political processes, the activities of the opposition political forces, but also opened the door to new and dangerous developments in the region. And today we are facing a reality that is not just a political problem, but a nationwide pain and trial.
It seemed to many that the 44-day war with its disastrous consequences was the most terrible thing that could happen to our people under these adventurous and anti-national rulers.

We did not think so. We could clearly see how they are shamelessly deceiving and misleading our people again. Even at our previous congress, we urged not to live in illusions and not to stop working against anti-national forces every day with all possible means.

Yes, we saw how the capitulating authorities presented the signing of the November 9 document to the people who had not overcome the shock of the war as the beginning of the “era of peace” and convinced that a new page was opened after the defeat, as if this signing paved the way for stability, security and peace. However, not long after, the bubble called “Era of Peace” finally burst. In December 2022, Artsakh found itself in a complete blockade, about ten months passed in the suffering and hardships of the humanitarian crisis, in the conditions of cold, hunger, acute lack of vital resources and uncertainty, deceived and betrayed by the rulers of Armenia, saw the entire emptiness of the norms and rights set by international organizations, the world’s indifference. And this was just the beginning of the promised “era of peace”.

September 19, 2023 put an end to the much talked about “era of peace”. That day, all the beautifully packaged words about peace were blown away with the first explosions. Artsakh woke up again under the sounds of rockets and artillery. Azerbaijan invaded the Republic of Artsakh. The Republic, left exhausted, alone and defenseless, was bleeding not only from the shrapnel of the aggressor’s enemy’s shells, but also from the indifference of the once guarantor of its security from the blow inflicted by the powerless rulers of Armenia. The most painful thing for Karagoh Artsakh was not the enemy’s fire. the most painful thing was the betrayal from behind and then the audacity to shamelessly declare that the people of Artsakh did not fight. This is when the people of Artsakh showed fierce resistance and caused great damage to the enemy.

The end of that chain of tragic events that started in 2018 was the ethnic cleansing carried out in Artsakh and the deportation of about 145 thousand Artsakh residents from their thousand-year-old homeland. which are being disrespected and destroyed today. And they still have the audacity to threaten the displaced Artsakh residents as a result of the ethnic cleansing and say: “You didn’t run away, why didn’t you stay in Artsakh?” This is the height of cynicism.

After the forced emigration, the unfriendly, soulless attitude and indifference shown to the people of Artsakh at the state level, criminal inaction, and often empty promises to search for the missing, in the direction of freedom and return to the homeland of our compatriots, who have been suffering inhumane deprivations in Baku prisons until now, began in Armenia.

I want to appeal from this podium to our compatriots, my friends, who fought for the right of our people to live freely, independently and safely, and who are loyal to their principles and beliefs, who are in the prisons of Azerbaijan. “Guys, I am with you every day, no exaggeration, every hour, in mind and heart, and I believe that one day we will meet. Your dignified behavior in these inhumane conditions is more telling and worthy of respect than the behavior of many in freedom.”

Dear party friends,

We cannot accept that everything is over or that Artsakh’s page is closed, as the capitulators are trying to force with their lies and fluff, vulnerable and fake peace propaganda.

Such an approach is not only politically short-sighted, but also contradicts the principles of international law and fundamental human rights, which testify to the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh to return safely to their homeland, to ensure international guarantees of their life, freedom and dignity, and to find out the fate of the missing. After all, the families of those people have been waiting for news for years, living in a difficult uncertainty, not knowing whether to mourn or wait with hope for their loved one. International humanitarian law, yes, obliges the parties to the conflict to clarify the fates of the missing and ensure the right of their families to know the truth.

The issue of Artsakh remains open also due to the fact that tens of thousands of people are deprived of the opportunity to use cultural and spiritual heritage, property rights, as well as the normal continuation of their community and public life as a result of their forced displacement from their historical homeland.

The right to a dignified return of Artsakh Armenians to their homes under international guarantees is an inalienable right, and no one can deprive the people of Artsakh of that right. Although we are sure that if the current rulers of Armenia are re-elected, they will lose sight of that inalienable right.

Real and stable peace cannot be built by the policy of forcing the existing problem into oblivion.

Dear Republicans,

In recent years, our party has continued to fight against the anti-national policies of these disastrous rulers, to provide support to our citizens displaced from Artsakh with all its capabilities, and to pursue the protection of their rights on international and domestic political platforms. We have repeatedly spoken about security challenges, trying to unite the society and offer solutions that are in the long-term interests of Armenia and the Armenian people.

In the past years, the party has continued to work on strengthening its structures, involving young people and spreading its ideology, being convinced that only an organized and responsible political force can effectively face the challenges our country is facing.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the first party political school in Armenia. It bears the name of my friend, the late Andranik Margaryan. Back in 2016, realizing the importance of raising the level of political and civic consciousness of young people, preparing competitive leaders of the new generation, publicizing national conservative ideas, we founded this school. Today, it has about 850 graduates, a “community of thinking young people”, as one of the school’s graduates aptly described. What is important here is not the number, but the multiplier effect, when ideas, knowledge, and values ​​are transferred to others.

It is with this realization that we pay special attention to our party structures, especially youth and student organizations, which, to their credit, are quite active and proactive. Their activities were also in front of all of us in recent years. Our young people, together with their older friends, were in the front lines of the opposition struggle, were subjected to violence, were imprisoned, but they did not give up and were not silent. Our youth organization also had active cooperation with foreign partner organizations, participated in many joint events.

I myself never get lazy and on various occasions I often meet our young people, talk with them, listen to their point of view on the existing problems, answer the questions addressed to me. I have questions myself. I am interested in their motivation to be young opposition party members. What has brought them to the opposition Republican Party in this difficult period, when promises of work, career, prosperous and peaceful life are not given here, instead there are all the difficulties that are the share of the opposition political force? The answers I heard speak about the value system of our young people, the awareness of responsibility, which was certainly formed on the basis of their upbringing.

Thanks and honor to the parents and teachers who brought them up.

It is this generation that tomorrow should bear the responsibility of both state, public and political life, more conscious, more prepared and more determined. This is an investment in the future of Armenia, and we will continue our efforts in this direction.

During the reporting period, I cannot but refer to the activities of our party women. They have stood equally firmly with us in the front lines of the struggle, proving with their consistency and dedication that they are ready to fulfill their assigned mission with honor together with their party friends. In the past years, Republican women have also been active at all levels of the party, from the initial structures to the Executive Body.

The role of women in our party has always been important and highly valued, and that role will continue to be central to our common struggle and success. Therefore, the expectations of the party, both from our youth and student and women’s organization, are even higher.

In a few days, Motherhood and Beauty Day will be celebrated in the republic. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like to congratulate our heroic mothers, sisters, all women, including Republican women, and send my best wishes from this podium.

Let me also refer to the work of the representatives of our party in the National Assembly of this convocation within the framework of the “I have honor” faction. Let me remind you that from the beginning, having a mandate in the parliament was not our goal and it is not today. 2021 witness our public views on participation in the elections. But due to certain circumstances, which we have announced in time, we participated, and despite the pessimists, we entered the parliament, which many and many forces that entered the election campaign failed to do. We sent our deputies to the National Assembly with a clear goal: to do the best in cooperation with the opposition partners, to get rid of the power-deprived, anti-national rulers in the constitutional way, using all the parliamentary instruments.

Like every republican, our deputies were in the most responsible parts of peaceful street disobedience, but at the same time, they used all possible parliamentary tools to achieve the common goal, complementing each other, combining parliamentary work and struggle on the street.

They were without a doubt ready to give up their mandates at any time, if it would serve the main goal, and if the problem before them was not solved in this way, then continue the struggle within the framework of parliamentary diplomacy and from the parliamentary platform voiced the whole truth about the capitulating rulers, without fear of targeting, voiced the protest sentiments of a large mass of our society, forcing today’s rulers to face them once again, not to reconcile with injustices. and with treachery, at every opportunity to draw the attention of international partners to our struggle in the street on the demands and rights of thousands of citizens, which today’s authorities are trying to ignore and violate.

Our deputies have done considerable work to prevent Armenia from presenting itself to the world exclusively with the defeatist, humiliating diplomatic attitude of the current rulers. Republicans have used all international parliamentary platforms to raise the issues of the security of our country, political prisoners, our captives kept in Baku, the hostages of Artsakh’s military and political leadership and the rights of ethnically cleansed and deported Artsakh Armenians, all the while constantly facing the obstacles created by the rulers of the day.

Political prisoners, friends of our struggle, have been and remain the center of daily attention of the Republican Party and its deputies, not only in terms of publicizing the problem, but also in terms of care.

Recently, the hearings organized by the “I have honor” faction on the topic “Regarding the current state of state-national church relations” and other public hearings initiated by us over the past years gave the opportunity to the non-parliamentary forces to voice their opinions from the country’s most important political platform.

Dear party friends,

I have seen a lot in this life. I have seen war and peace, victory and defeat, I have seen heroism and treachery, modesty and arrogance, I have seen devotion and renunciation, faith and disappointment, nationwide rise and heavy fall. I have held the hands of boys dying of severe wounds on the front and hugged the newborn children of our martyred boys. I have made mistakes like anyone on this earth, and I have made decisions that have delivered real results for my country and people. Yes, we Republicans are not perfect, but we are honest. We are honest about our past, our present and the challenges ahead. We are honest with ourselves and our people.

The Republican Party of 2026 is not the Republican Party of 2016. We are more experienced, wiser, more crystallized and tempered and more realistic. We have been hardened by going through more than three decades of wars, victories, losses, repressions, persecutions and we have not given up, we are still standing firmly in the “trenches” protecting our statehood.

And let me say today from this podium on behalf of all of you to the nationalists, we are us, with our past and present, with our mistakes and achievements, with our professed values ​​and faith. We are godly, what about you? We belong to our people, and whose are you?

We are Armenians with our problems, our value system, and who are you? You are doubters of the Armenian Genocide. You consider Artsakh a noose around Armenia’s neck. You consider the Declaration of Independence as a declaration of conflict and dependence. You are a shameful page in the history of Armenia, which should be turned over immediately. And we consider it our priority task.

Dear Republicans,

Our congress is held on a very symbolic day, when all Armenian churches, in the Motherland and in the diaspora, are preparing to solemnly celebrate one of the main holidays of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, Holy Easter.

Easter is not just a holiday. it is the secret of victory: the victory of life over death, the victory of good over evil, the victory of truth over lies, the victory of light over darkness. It is a reminder that, like every person, every nation faces a choice throughout its history: to remain in darkness and despair, or to separate from evil, rise up and be reborn with faith, dignity and unity.

Let this advice also be our political and national guideline to get rid of everything that weakens our state: defeatist thinking, falsehood, irresponsibility and anti-national process, to get rid of and unite around the values ​​that have kept our people for centuries: faith, homeland, statehood and national dignity.

Let the eve of Easter become the moment of choice:
• to separate from the darkness and choose the light,
• to put an end to division and unite around national goals,
• not to reconcile with national defeat and humiliation,
• to build a dignified, powerful and faith-living Armenia.

Therefore, I suggest that after our assembly, on this day before the Easter holiday, we should all go to the candlelight service at the Mother See of St. Etchmiadzin or each of us to the church of our place of residence and, as faithful children of our church, we should offer a united and sincere prayer to God for the salvation of our Motherland and people, a dignified future and the peace of the souls of our martyrs.

For centuries, the great Avetis of the Feast of the Resurrection has been reminding us of one truth: when the people are separated from evil and return to the light, their new life begins. And we are obliged to build that new life together for the sake of Armenia.

Thank you all. God bless the Republic of Armenia. May God bless the Republican Party of Armenia. And let the souls of the martyrs of our heroic battles lead us to a future worthy of their sacrifice.

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