Prime Minister Nikol Pashiyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan hosted more than 70 tenth grade Armenian students of Los Angeles at their governmental mansion, eporst the news service of the Government of Armenia.
The students represent the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School, which has nearly 800 students. Every year, the School’s 10th graders visit Armenia to become familiar with the homeland, while the 11th graders become involved in volunteer programs and work as interns in Armenia.
The Prime Minister greeted everyone and voiced hope that he will see them in Armenia again and again. He also answered the students’ questions and listened to them as they shared their impressions of Armenia.
In particular, the Prime Minister touched upon economic development and stated that the government has already taken several major steps in this direction. He also mentioned that the government has set aside three main branches as priorities in the economy, including technology, tourism and agriculture.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, the government needs to empower people so much in terms of education, protection of rights and economic opportunities that people can provide for not only themselves, but also for others.
At the request of the students, the Prime Minister also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, its history and the settlement of the conflict. “Just like Azerbaijan became independent from the former USSR, the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh also became independent from Soviet Azerbaijan, and our objective is to have the international community recognize this fact. The negotiations are being led in this direction, at least our government is leading the negotiations in this direction. Azerbaijan constantly tries to impose certain solutions on Armenia with the threat of the use of force, but Armenia doesn’t accept those solutions because, in essence, the international community and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have established three principles underlying the negotiations, and no use of force or the threat of use of force are one of them. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) stand united as one to resist any assault and will give a counterattack, but we have obviously stated that we picture an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Nikol Pashinyan stressed and added that the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place in Washington yesterday.
When asked how Diaspora Armenians can help Armenia, the head of government said the following: “Those who have a good education and business skills should come to Armenia and do business. You can tell your friends about Armenia and the opportunities it has to offer and encourage them to visit Armenia and Artsakh.”
The head of government attached great importance to the preservation of the Armenian identity abroad and expressed gratitude to the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School for its activities.
The students expressed gratitude for the cordial reception and took a photo with Prime Minister Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan at the end of the meeting.
