YEREVAN. – To strengthen patriotic education, it is necessary first of all to strengthen within each citizen of Armenia the feeling of being the master.

President Serzh Sargsyan stated the aforesaid during his address at the Nation-Army 2017 Forum on Thursday.

“Our extensive experience in the area of public administration shows that in Armenia structural issue of any kind cannot be solved exclusively in the framework of the particular area it belongs to. In the current society such issues are interconnected which means there should be compound inquiries, approaches, and solutions.

“It is also true for the issue of patriotic education. The best education in patriotism is illustration.

“The concept of the Nation-Army proposed by the Minister of Defense is aimed at the educating the citizens who will be exacting when it comes to the security area. This Forum is another means to further solidify the link between our society, particularly our young people, and the Armed Forces.

“In coming days, the exhibition here will be attended by thousands of students, teachers, and parents. They will strive to understand what our country has to offer today to the young people who want to get high-quality education, to obtain a competitive and very engaging specialty.

“Initiatives to be discussed today, as well as potential, which has been accumulated for years, will create a solid base for the creation a stanch axis of commanders, officers-intellectuals of our new generation. From the Monte Melkonian college to be opened in September in Dilijan with its new and wide opportunities to the new educational programs in our military institutions of higher education, from civic educational establishments to our contract servicemen at their combat duty on the frontier – we have to continue to amplify through the renewed policies and consistent steps respect and love of our society towards the Armenian Army.

“To strengthen patriotic education, it is necessary first of all to strengthen within each citizen of Armenia the feeling of being the master. The best defenders of the homeland are the people who understand their share of responsibility for Fatherland.

“Responsibility is not something abstract or ephemeral: responsible is the person who has at least a private corner to live. Those who don’t have it yet, should be sure that through the honest work they will get that corner. Such individuals will not only create their own corner but will expand it, will make it a family place. In that apartment, in that milieu they will raise their kids who will have the same feeling of the owner. This, and I believe it strongly, is the best patriotic education.

“Don’t delude yourselves or others: without a resolute master, without men and women who cling to their own land, there can be no patriotic education. Only men and women full of the feeling of ownership are able to raise children dedicated to their homeland, to their country, and native land.

“Such people do not need patriotic slogans and sermons; they know danger immediately and if necessary will rise to defend their home and their land and water.

The reforms undertaken in our country are aimed at the encouragement and strengthening of such attitude. The next few years will be decisive with this regard. The reforms are fundamental, and they will be visible and tangible for each and every citizen of the Republic of Armenia.

“I believe it was that very sense of ownership that paved the way for success and victory in the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] Liberation War.

“[Late military commander and politician] Vazgen [Sargsyan] used to say ‘I love local patriots.’ You can find such local patriots in every village, community, and town: they know the history of their place, names of all people born there and their biographies. They are always ready to tell you about their native land and are proud with it.

“By the virtue of my job, I have been visiting different marzes [provinces] and communities of our country and have spoken to many people. I believe that we need to keep in the center of our attention and care the dedication and labor of that people. There can be no better patriotic education than that.

“Armenia is a totality of many small and large communities. The smallest unit must not be lost in that totality.

“We have to love, cherish, and protect that unit. Who can do it better than the owner, men and women who earn their bread through honest work?

“That’s the only way to identify and love the Fatherland. We need to constantly strengthen these values and pass them from generation to generation, first and foremost through our families. Family is the most important and the strongest unit for the preservation of our nation; people get their primary values in the family,” the President of Armenia noted, in particular.