We have the most powerful weapon: ourselves and our unity. Address by Armen Sarkissian, President of the Republic of Armenia, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund

Dear compatriots,

For more than a month, Artsakh, Armenia, and the entire Armenian people have been fighting in a patriotic war, a war unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey, and a war against international terrorism.

Our brave military units and volunteers fight selflessly, without sparing their lives.

They are fighting for freedom and dignity, for their Homeland.

We bow to our fallen heroes and their families.

My condolences to all mothers and fathers who lost their sons, wives who lost their husbands,
sisters who lost their brothers, grandparents who lost their grandchildren…

For us victory in this war means defending our home, our culture, our values, and our faith,
it means doing everything to prevent a second genocide,

It means a war for the memory of our heroes, the memory of our martyred heroes ...

The patriotic war that started about 30 years ago continues.

I have often been asked how we managed to win with our unhealed wounds, a devastated economy and almost unarmed after the earthquake thirty years ago.

Our victory may have seemed impossible to some people, but not to us.
Thirty years ago, we did not have a strong economy, roads, fuel, we did not have enough weapons.

However, we won because we had the most powerful weapon, ourselves and our unity.
Even today, some people ask me: what is the guarantee of our victory today?

My answer has not changed: our unity.

I want to urge our political forces, politicians and public figures:

Be united and consolidated as people,

follow the example of the people ...

Dear compatriots,

Besides the enemy attacking Artsakh, we have another enemy, the coronavirus epidemic, which takes lives every day.

My condolences to the families and relatives of our compatriots who fell victim to the epidemic.

In the fight against coronavirus, too, victory depends on us, on how united, consolidated, organized and disciplined we will be ...

I would like to express my special thanks to the vanguard of this struggle, to all health care workers, from doctors to nurses and male nurses, paramedics, ambulance drivers and technical staff, who selflessly fight the coronavirus day and night. They are on the fore of another front ...

Dear compatriots in Artsakh, Armenia and in the Diaspora,

Thank you for all your efforts and aspirations, for your compassion and warmth, for your unity and organization, for your support that you provide in various ways and means.

Continue your support, material and moral, through donation and charity, connections and knowledge, your direct participation or remote presence.

Realizing the seriousness of the moment and the urgency of uniting around the homeland, all the Armenians immediately joined in the work of the All-Armenian Fund, which turned into a nationwide movement.

I would like to thank all the donors from the Diaspora and Armenia.

Making donations to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, you are helping to address the plight of Artsakh families and refugees in Armenia, and to rebuild destroyed schools and homes.

I call on all Armenian businessmen, benefactors, unions, organizations, individuals living in Armenia, throughout the Diaspora, to do their utmost for the security of the Armenian people.

Our hope is ourselves and our true friends.

We will build our victory together.

God bless Artsakh, Armenia and all our people.