STEPANAKERT. – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), or Artsakh, President Bako Sahakyan released an address in connection with the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“Every year on this very day the entire Armenian people in all corners of the world pay homage to the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims of the 1915 Genocide. We once again raise our voice against violence and massacres, evil and crime, for the victory of historic justice and exclusion of further genocides.

The civilized mankind must finally hear our voice that calls for protecting and developing national and human values, [and] it must condemn the terrible crime carried out by Ottoman Turkey.

The Armenian nation has numerous friends that have helped us both at that critical moment, by giving harbor to our barely-survived compatriots, and today, by standing alongside us [and] supporting our demands. We remember everyone and are profoundly grateful to you all.

Strengthening the independent Armenian statehood day by day and cementing the unshakable Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity, we move with firm and steady steps toward a secure and a safe future, [and] building a strong and a developed homeland for the generations to come. This is our response to all the hardship; this is the only way of keeping the memory of all victims alive,” the NKR President’s address specifically states.