Hayk Nazaryan's speech at Sardarapat with English subtitles (26-05-2024)
03:00:00 26.05.2024
Speech #2
At Sardarapat
In two days it is the day of the establishment of our independence. That day for all Armenians has a significant meaning, because not only is it the day of the founding of our independence, but also the new beginning for our history of more than 5000 years. 106 years seems like a long time, but that is only a lifespan of one person and only a single moment for history.
The more time goes on it seems like we don’t value that great achievement, which would of seemed like a miracle to all of our forefathers who for centuries fought with the purpose of regaining our independence.
It is said that you don’t appreciate something until you lose it. These words never rang more true when referring to having an independent statehood. Many of us living in our villages and cities peacefully and securely don’t appreciate our independence, we don’t realize that our forefathers would dream about living even in today’s Armenia.
They would dream about that, because they felt what it’s like to live without a statehood, to live under someone else’s yoke, especially under the yoke of a savage enemy, where you as a free man cannot enjoy your own country in a dignified manner and are living only like a slave. Without an independent statehood, outside the Fatherland you cannot hold your head up high in front of foreigners and proudly say that you are Armenian.
We must remember all of this and we must appreciate our achievement regardless of how small and weak it appears to be at this moment. Just as our Commander Nzhdeh has said before: we must love the Fatherland regardless of the political regime and political beliefs prevailing there. But to that we can add that we must appreciate our statehood regardless of how weak the state is. We cannot love our Fatherland if we don’t appreciate our independence, because if we don’t appreciate it, then we will lose that as well and we will start to dream about what we lost, just as it happened with Artsakh.
We can appreciate our independence when we deeply realize what sacrifices were required to regain it. Independence was not given as a gift, we gained it after waging a bloody struggle in the victories won at the battles of Sardarapat and Karakilisa. Those heroic battles can be regarded as turning points for our nation, where we showed our enemies and the whole world that a nation that does not want to die does not die by selflessly continuing the war for survival.
We are obligated to appreciate and advance our independence to keep alive the memory of our heroic freedom fighters who have shed so much sweat and blood to make that dream come true.
After the 44-day war, especially after the complete loss of Artsakh, many people think that our current situation is hopeless, forgetting that we gained independence after going through a genocide. After the loss of independence, we regained it 70 years later, passing through the Soviet tyranny. We were able to do it and justify it thanks to the liberation of Artsakh, because without it none of this would have happened. This is a proof that if we were able to go through all that and at the same time restore our statehood, then we can not only preserve our current state, but also flourish in the near future by steadfastly advancing our movement.
However, appreciating our independence does not at all mean that we should tolerate our current situation, where our enemies threaten our independence, trying to steal from us not only our statehood, but also the dream of our ancestors and the future of our coming generations, because for us, having independence is equivalent to existing. In any case, we will correct the mistakes made in the past: we will become the successor of the First Republic and we will place our hope first and foremost on ourselves.
Today is also the day of the battle of Avarayr. That battle also has a great symbolic meaning for our nation, because it symbolizes the struggle of Armenian identity against assimilation, the struggle of spiritual Armenia against foreign tyranny, and the struggle of light against darkness. Let this be an example that we must do everything with our movement to preserve the identity of the Armenian nation, restore our spiritual national values and spread the light of hope and faith in our pitiful and darkened political field.
We are on the verge of losing our statehood, that's why, keeping the battles of Avarair, Sardarapat and Gharakilisa vivid in our minds, let's strengthen our independence with a fighting spirit more than ever, to show the people that the more they try to exterminate us, the stronger and bigger we will be. we will become a danger for them. We will show everyone that the Armenian nation shines under pressure and will shine again, as it shined in the ancient world.
We are on the verge of losing our statehood, that's why, by keeping the battles of Avarayr, Sardarapat and Gharakilisa vivid in our minds, let's strengthen our independence with a fighting spirit more than ever, to show our enemies that the more they try to exterminate us, the stronger we will become and a greater threat we will become to them. We will show everyone that the Armenian nation shines under pressure and will shine again, just as it shined in the ancient world.
From now on let us remember and vow, that an independent statehood is not only of supreme value to us but also something sacred, that we will keep like the light of our eyes and for which we will fight with all our might for the sake of our heroic ancestors and for the sake of our future generations.
- Hayk Nazaryan
May 26, 2024
