At the beginning of the main event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of independence, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan first asked to observe a minute of silence to honor the memory of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Homeland and its independence.
In his speech, Pashinyan spoke about the possibility of turning defeat into victory.
“What will we see if we look back at the 30-year history of our independent state? We will see successes and failures, we will see victories and defeats, we will see tears and joy, inspiration and despair, admiration and disappointment, wars, victory in war and defeat in war.
The severity of the 2020 war depends on this square.
How to live after this disaster, how to look into the eyes of the children, widows, fathers and mothers of the victims, how to make sure that their sacrifice is not considered meaningless.
This formulation is our biggest problem - to set the course for our lives and our future in this landmark of 30 years of independence, for the coming decades of an independent state. The formulation I imagine is this: history has shown, proved that victory in war has not always become victory, just as defeat in war has not always become defeat.
We must transform our defeat into victory, but we must also transform our formula for victory, because history has shown that it is not necessary to win, sometimes it is not even necessary to defeat others. To win means to overcome despair, to overcome hopelessness, destiny, death. And where were the martyrs? They fell for Armenia to live, they fell for Artsakh to live, as long as Armenia lives, as long as Artsakh lives, they are alive. When Armenia is developing, when Artsakh is developing, their sacrifices have achieved their goal, because it is about their children, brothers and sisters, the Homeland, the Homeland of the latter's children.
I want us to see the presence of our martyrs by our side today, to see them as a symbol of life, not death, to make them a symbol and pledge of living and winning, overcoming death, overcoming despair, overcoming hopelessness,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
