President Serzh Sargsyan started his working visit to the United States

On March 28, President Serzh Sargsyan started his working visit to the United States of America. In Massachusetts, President Serzh Sargsyan visited Watertown, which has many residents of the Armenian descent, who is last two centuries established there strong national structures. First, President Sargsyan was hosted at the Armenian library-museum of America which was founded in 1971. The Museum is an important structure which presents Armenian cultural heritage – coins, articles made of ceramics, pottery, carpets, religious articles, stamps, textile, metal work, maps, printed works and a rich collection of medieval miniatures. The President toured the premise of the library-museum, familiarized with the exhibits, and conversed with the staff about the activities of this cultural establishment. The President of Armenia augmented the collection of the museum with a picture of Jansem which he presented to the museum.

Afterwards, Serzh Sargsyan visited Paykar Center of Ramkavar Liberal Party and Hairenik center of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, familiarized with the activities of these two Armenian traditional parties and conditions they work in. Hairenik Center of Boston is the oldest Armenian center on the East coast. The East coast ARF office, headquarters of the Armenian Relief Society, Hairenik radiostation, editorial staff of Armenian Weekly and Hayrenik Weekly papers are functioning here. The ARF party archives are also kept here - in Hayrenik center. It contains materials related to the activities of the Party during the First Republic of 1918-1920 and subsequent decades. At the Center, the President of Armenia met with the representatives of the ARF. Serzh Sargsyan greeted and stressed the equal importance of the patriotic activities of the traditional parties and wished them all the best.

At the first day of his visit to the United States, President Sargsyan visited also the Armenian Churches of Saint Stepanos and Saint Trinity. By the way, in 1991 at the proposal of the Armenian community of Watertown, the Saint Stepanos street was renamed into Artsakh street, while on August 6, 2012 the House of Representatives of Massachusetts adopted a resolution urging the President of the United States and Congress to support independence of Nagorno Karabakh and its right for self-determination.

The visit to the Saint Trinity Church concluded the first day of the working visit of the President of Armenia to the US. In the Book of Honorary Guests of the Saint Trinity Church, Serzh Sargsyan made an inscription and stressed the special role of the Armenian Church in the preservation of the Armenian identity and highlighted the importance of its historic mission.