YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan issued a message on occasion of Victory Day Monday.  

The message reads as follows:

“Dear Compatriots,

I cordially congratulate you on the Day of Victory and Peace.

The World War II indeed became a Great Patriotic War for our people. Many Armenians fought for the liberty and bright future of their homeland. They fought in all the fronts, battlefields and in the rear. Today we express our gratitude and pay tribute to the bright memory of our heroic ancestors, hundreds and thousands of whom fell in the fight against the evil.  

We also pay tribute and express our gratitude to the unfortunately already small number of veterans who are with us today.

This is a holiday not only of military victory, but also peace. Together with the other peoples of the Soviet Union, we paid a very high cost for this victory, deserving peace.

This peace gave us a historic opportunity to regain our feet in terms of economy, culture and politics. And we know the cost of this peace.

Dear compatriots,

May 9 acquired a new meaning and value for us upon the liberation of Shoushi in 1992.  The centuries-old cultural center of Artsakh, which traditionally disseminated light, education, science and art round it, was turned into a horrible firing point, sowing death and destructions round it. Liberation of Shoushi was a matter life and death for us, and on the same day – on May 9 – we repeated the feat of our fathers and grandfathers, turning the tide of war.

Last month - 24 years after this day – already the sons of the militiamen who liberated Shoushi, repeated the feat of their fathers. And they already did this not as part of fedayis (Armenian militia) but that of a regular army. They proved that each new generation of the Armenian nation is ready to defend its liberty, peace and rights in a new way.

Dear compatriots,

I congratulate all of you on this great holiday! I wish you peaceful sky and fruitful work!”