Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday morning addressed the nation and said as follows in particular:
"Today marks the 40th day of the cessation of large-scale hostilities in the second Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] war. That war had serious consequences for us. Many of our compatriots were killed on the battlefield and, in this connection, three-day mourning has been declared in the Republic of Armenia.
And what are we going to do next? How are we going to live after this? And what will be our goal? Why was everything like this? Why did it happen like this?
Of course, I have taken full responsibility for what happened, which I bear ex officio, and I have said that I will deeply accept any verdict that our people will make.
But I have to say that if the institution of the ‘scapegoat’ is good for easing the heart, to vent anger and rage; it is not at all useful to realize what has happened in its depth and completeness.
We need a deeper analysis of the reality because what happened could not have been the result of the mistakes by one or more people, of one or several years.
The meaning and purpose of my message today (…) is to build optimism and hope.
It is obvious that we are ending a period of our history, but the real tragedy will be if we continue to live in the end and the logic of end.
Every collapse, no matter how brutal it may sound, is a zero point, an opportunity to create something new.
Our tragedy should not destroy us, but make us live. (…). And for this, we need to realize in depth what we did not do right, why we did not do it like that, and when we did not do it like that.
One of our biggest problems remains the return of our captive compatriots, the search for the missing, as well as the stabilization of the situation around Armenia and Artsakh; and this is the focus of our daily efforts.
And today as of 13:00, we together will carry out a march—from [Yerevan] Republic Square to Yerablur [Military Pantheon]—of homage and respect for our martyrs.
Our biggest task is to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and create an opportunity for the people to express their will.
Until then, the government [of Armenia] shall work to implement as effectively as possible the provisions of the roadmap I published on November 18, which will also solve many post-war problems and, in general, stabilize the internal political situation, too.
‘Let's build Armenia in a new way.’ I had chosen this slogan before the war to guide Armenia's transformation strategy. This formula is useful also for looking to the future from our current situation.”
