“April 24^th is the day of commemoration of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide. Today is also the day of glorifying those who, in spite of the horrors of 1915, continued to fight by living the lives of those who didn’t and creating the Armenia that their deceased compatriots had dreamed of.” This is stated in the statement by Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) Ashot Ghulyan on the occasion of the 104^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“For us Armenians, the past is not only a fact, but also an integral part of our present and our lives.

To keep silent about the horrible crimes of the past means to be complicit, and the fact that the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides of the early 20^th century have not been universally recognized and condemned has prepared ground for the new genocides that are being perpetrated in different parts of the world to this day.

With the chosen path to be united as one and build a secure and powerful country, the Armenian people proved that only an independent statehood is the guarantee for ruling out such crimes and only the national army is the reliable guarantor of security,” the statement reads.