Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is on a working visit to the United States with his spouse Anna Hakobyan.
Within the framework of the agenda set in Los Angeles, the Armenian Prime Minister and his spouse attended a gala reception attended by about 700 community representatives.
In his speech after performing the anthems of the Republic of Armenia and the United States of America and wishing spiritual leaders of the Armenian community, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted:
“Your Eminencies and reverend clergy,
Distinguished elected and appointed officials of Armenian descent,
Members of the Government of the Republic of Armenia,
Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States and Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles,
Chief Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs,
Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Armenia in Fresno and Las Vegas,
Heads of California-based Armenian political parties and organizations, delegation members, representatives, journalists,
Dear Compatriots,
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Thank you all for this glorious day, because today’s meeting, this atmosphere, this day that we are enjoying together is an unforgettable event for all of us, and I think that all those who are watching us from afar will enjoy it, too.
I would like to thank the Armenians of California, the Armenians of America, and our compatriots in the Diaspora who have preserved their Armenian identity and passed it on to their children, having inherited it from their fathers and grandfathers.
I want to say that I am always proud to see the Armenians of California, Armenians around the world stand united on April 24 and, with a powerful march, announce to the world that we have not given up our identity and we will never do so.
We are the bearers of our history today, and we are enriched by the great lessons we have learned: cruel and glorious lessons to change the historical destiny of our people and to bring our people out of the historical cycle that we have unfortunately survived from time to time. The cycle is approximately as follows: geopolitical circumstances give us a chance, an opportunity, which we eventually miss mainly due to geopolitical circumstances, and with that we also lose our homeland and people.
And the biggest lesson of that story is that, unfortunately, we often do not control our own destiny. And when hearing that we have today a historic chance for our state and our people, I understand it so that we have the opportunity to take control of our own destiny. Today, most importantly, we have the potential to do so, and that is the most important part of today’s message.
The key factor behind the change in Armenia is that every citizen can feel his or her own strength. The time has come for us to take the next step so that we as a people can feel and be able to apply the power of our collective strength. This is the factor that should really lead to a historic revolution in our destiny, and the logical continuation of the change in one’s self-esteem is when the individual, the citizen feels his power.
The time has come for the collective of individuals called the Armenian nation to feel its creative power, and to set a specific goal of using that creative force, and that goal is to build a powerful Republic of Armenia, a powerful Artsakh and a united homeland.
The time has come for us to feel our strength as a people, to stand side by side. Today’s event is about this. Today’s event implies that the Armenians are united more than ever, and the Armenian people are ready for victories more than ever.
I would like to emphasize once again: I believe that our greatest collective mission is to restore our greatness. We must restore our greatness in economics, we must restore our greatness in science, we must restore our greatness in art, we must restore our greatness in diplomacy, we must restore our greatness in sport and in all spheres, in general.
It was not accidental that I started today’s rally with Paruyr Sevak’s poem, because there are two very important things in it: respect for other nations that should not disturb us, instead it should help us respect ourselves and make others respect us.
That is why we need only one thing today, namely to formulate a single goal and work together for that goal. The name of that one goal is clear – it is the Republic of Armenia, and it is also the Republic of Artsakh.
Long live the Republic of Armenia, long live Artsakh, long live the Diaspora and long live the Armenian people.
Thank you.”
INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME-MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
