If not for the movement, we would have lost not only Artsakh, but also Armenia, Artsakh’s Minister of State Ruben Vardanyan said on the 35th anniversary of the Artsakh Movement.
“The preservation of Artsakh and the feeling of victory in the first Artsakh war gave us great strength and confidence, because we managed to make that victory, which seemed impossible to many, possible. Thanks to the movement, we realized that we can prevent the catastrophe of losing our homeland through struggle,” Vardanyan said.
“The people of Artsakh continue to fight for the right to live a free, independent, dignified life, so that the threat of ethnic cleansing and deportation from the homeland does not hang over our heads. In response to that, we received wars, loss of life and difficult trials from neighboring Azerbaijan, which continue in the form of today’s blockade and the difficulties imposed on us,” the State Minister said.
“Despite all the trials, our will to keep Artsakh Armenian remains unshakable. All those who discuss and try to decide the fate of Artsakh without us do not understand that we took our fate into our own hands 35 years ago on this day. We paid a very high price for that decision. Many of our devoted heroes gave their lives to keep this land Armenian, because they understood the exceptional importance of Artsakh for the preservation of Armenian statehood and the Armenian world,” he continued.
“During these 100 days of my tenure as the Minister of State and in the situation of heavy siege, I saw for myself the extraordinarily powerful strength of the people of Artsakh and realized that we get that strength from the land we live on, where the roots of our national identity are. I felt the depth of our roots and that unique power that comes from it,” Ruben Vardanyan said.
“And now I confidently say that even if it takes another 35 years to reach our goal, it should not stop us, disappoint us, or take us away from our goal. We have enough will and persistence to achieve our goal and no one can take that away from us,” the State Ministrer concluded.
