The grand opening of the international conference

On September 20, in the conference hall of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, the grand opening of the international conference dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia was launched.

Welcoming remarks were made by Chairman of the National Assembly of the Artsakh Republic Artur Tovmasyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Minister of Education and Science of the Artsakh Republic Lusine Karakhanyan, President of the National Academy Ashot Saghyan, Scientific Secretary of the Department of Armenian Studies and Social Sciences Yuri Suvaryan. The welcoming speech of the President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan was presented by the press secretary of the President Lusine Avanesyan. In her speech Artsakh Republic Minister of Education and Science Lusine Karakhanyan emphasized that independence is the concentration and combination of our spiritual, intellectual, moral, ideological, power and all other resources, this is our one-sided view.

Bishop Vrtanes conveyed his blessing to the conference participants, quoting the words of the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I:

The creation of the Motherland is heroism, the building of the Motherland is a virtue.

"Dear Chairman of the National Assembly of the Artsakh Republic Mr. Artur Tovmasyan, Dear Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Artsakh Republic Mrs. Lusine Karakhanyan, dear participants of the conference, dear sisters and brothers!

Indeed, the restoration of the independence of Mother Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh was the embodiment of the centuries-old desires of the Armenian people to realize their natural and God-given right to a free life.

Our people, as the generation of Hayk and as the bearer of the Christian value system, have always been in the struggle with evil. For thousands of years they have tried and are still trying to erase the Armenians and everything Armenian, but they fail, because the life of our people is of a spiritual value. When Hayk rebelled against Bel and returned to the land of his fathers who worshiped one God, when our nation returned to its roots 2000 years ago and chose the path to God, he once and for all affirmed that we are a nation that will go to eternity. It is no secret that for many years the Armenian people were subjected to encroachments and persecutions from neighboring peoples, being under the yoke and power of other peoples, the Armenians for centuries could not build their statehood.

This is the main signal that awakens the consciousness of every Armenian to understand the value of statehood.

When the Armenian people did not have statehood, Mother Church bore the heavy yoke of leading the people. Always in the hour of persecution, the church called on other states to pardon the oppressed and orphaned, but, alas, the world, as always, was preoccupied with its own problems and did not even hear us.

I think that Khrimyan Hayrik, one of the brightest representatives of the national liberation struggle, best described the importance of a sovereign and strong state. “When I came to the Berlin Congress to raise the rights of our people around the world, I realized that first of all we must have the right to HAVE the RIGHT. And this right is won with arms. You've probably heard of the iron ladle? The civilized peoples of Europe, who seemed to us law-abiding and just, gave us nothing but pity. Russia, which seemed to be a great friend of our people, did not see or hear anything except its own interests. The Armenian people looked like hungry children who found themselves on the street in the winter frost, to which everyone closed the doors of their house. The Armenian people remained helpless. But the most important thing that I understood is that you shouldn't look for help outside ... "

Mkrtich Khrimyan (Hayrik)

Today - exactly 30 years later, we are all united by the memory and rethinking of the day when the heavy chains of decades were broken, when for centuries the suppressed and dejected desire for freedom suddenly flared up in the hearts of the Artsakh people with unprecedented strength and received its worthy formulation: “Artsakh and Mother Armenia are finally independent! ”

Thirty years ago, the Armenians declared to the world that they have the right to live freely in their centuries-old homeland. Our people have chosen a worthy way of life, realizing what a dear price they will have to pay for this choice, they voluntarily chose and paid this price, having overcome many trials and liberated Artsakh.

The last ordeal of Artsakh and the wounds left by it have not yet healed, there are still dark clouds around us, the issue of Artsakh has not yet been fully resolved, our economic, creative, industrial power has weakened again, everything is not going as we would like. But we must do everything to change this situation. God will not send angels from heaven to improve our lives. We are the instruments of God on this earth and must live so that one day our children will not say:

"Our fathers and mothers, with their petty problems and inner struggle, have darkened our freedom and independence."

Now that we have come together here for one of our most important achievements, this independence conference, we have the opportunity to reflect, learn from our mistakes, point out our shortcomings, and strengthen our will to move forward. Today we must forget ourselves, join the spiritual sacrament, direct our prayers and efforts to strengthen our Motherland because not everything is lost. God has left this piece of land on which we must stand firm and move forward. "The blood of the lost marks the path of our lives and determines our duty." Indeed, today our lost sons indicate that with our lives we are obliged to honor what they have honored with death and blood, this should become a new impetus for each of us. We must put our land above ourselves, our Motherland above us, our Church above us, only the realization of this can save Artsakh. Neither money nor weapons will save us without our devotion to the land and faith.

We Christians have the ideal of striving for another world, for the Kingdom of God, which is the world of Love. In this regard, Christ said: "I am not from this world, but from another world, the world of Higher Love; you are all invited to this world."

If we, as a nation, as conscientious Christian people, do not strive to love each other according to the Divine commandment, then the indifference of the world to our people can be considered justified. But if we accept the commandment to love our neighbor, this love becomes the personal and national foundation and strength of the nation.

God created man in his own image and likeness; this is expressed in the free will of man, in his sovereign nature. Man is a conscious being, endowed with freedom and capable of being the master of his actions. Therefore the will is also our choice. With these thoughts in mind, we thank the organizers of this important initiative, all the conference participants, and wish you fruitful work.

God's blessing and peace to all of us. "

Director of the Institute of History of the NAS RA Academician Ashot Melkumyan, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of the Artsakh Republic, Doctor of Philosophy Professor Vahram Balayan, Honorary Member of the NAS RA (London) Ruben Galchyan and Professor of the Institute of Archeology of the NAS RA Ph.D. Alexan Hakobyan made reports at the plenary session.