Premier: The Velvet Revolution should inevitably lead to  international recognition of Artsakh`s self- determination

ArmInfo.Artsakh is the only part of our country where perspectives are unlimited. Artsakh is the only part of our country where you can see the horizon without much technical effort, because here the mountains do not block us from the  world, and from here you can see an endless horizon. Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan announced this in his speech during the inauguration  ceremony of the newly elected President of the Artsakh Republic.  As  the press service of RA PM reports, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  and Mrs. Anna 

Hakobyan attended Artsakh Republic President-elect Arayik  Harutyunyan's inauguration ceremony in Shushi. The inauguration  ceremony was held at a special meeting of the National Assembly of  the Republic of Artsakh.

The ceremony was also attended by outgoing President of the Republic  of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the  Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, RA National  Assembly Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, parliamentarians from Armenia and  Artsakh, public and political figures.

Prime Minister Pashinyan and Mrs. Hakobyan attended a gala reception.  The Prime Minister of Armenia delivered a speech, in which he stated:   "Today we gathered in Shushi - a beautiful corner of the most  striking symbol of the Artsakh liberation war - to hold the  inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President of the Artsakh  Republic Araik Harutyunyan. This is an obligatory ceremony  established by the Constitution and the laws of Artsakh, however, the  place and time of the ceremony give it special symbolism and special  significance.  Several years ago, during a visit to Artsakh as an  opposition deputy, I made the following statement:  Artsakh is the  best place to think about our past and future, and I think there is a  very specific reason for this.

Artsakh is the only part of our country where perspectives are  unlimited. Artsakh is the only part of our country where you can see  the horizon without much technical effort, because here the mountains  do not block us from the world, and from here you can see an endless  horizon.  It is a common belief that our most important achievement  in the Artsakh liberation war was to have saved Artsakh Armenians  from physical extermination and build the modern Republic of Artsakh  and the Republic of Armenia. And it is true. However, in my opinion,  the philosophical and conceptual achievements that we had as a result  of the Artsakh war of liberation are equally important: I mean that  we had closer access to the horizon and reached out the infinite. For  me, the unlimited horizon is a symbol of broader and infinite  thinking and new mentality, which is no longer limited to narrow  gorges and mountain passes.

I am convinced that the best achievement of the Artsakh liberation  war is the ability to perceive oneself in a new way, to think in a  new way, to be guided by new thinking. In my opinion, the greatest  achievement of the Artsakh war is the change in our national  thinking.  The change of thinking always and everywhere is very slow,  invisible, but usually, at some point, at some stage, it has a bright  and historical expression, and the non-violent velvet people's  revolution that took place in Armenia in 2018 was such an expression  of the change of thinking that began in the collective consciousness  of our people with the victory in the Artsakh liberation war. This is  a very important nuance, to which I want to draw our attention. It  was the change in thinking that led to the non-violent velvet  people's revolution of 2018, and this change in thinking began with  the victorious result of the Artsakh liberation war.

The slogan "We are the masters of our country" arose in the second  decade of the second millennium, and it was guided by various groups  and individuals who fought for change in Armenia. However, this  slogan was realized without pronouncing it, in the first half of the  90s, the people of Artsakh, the people of Armenia, our fallen and  living freedom fighters during the Artsakh war.

In turn, the Artsakh liberation war was the result of the revolution  that began in Armenia and Artsakh in 1988 and was democratic in its  content and essence - the Karabakh movement, which, in turn, led to  such a drastic change in our national thinking that helped us triumph  in the Artsakh liberation war.  I say all this in order to make a  very important statement: all attempts to contrast the non-violent  velvet people's revolution with the Artsakh Liberation War, its goals  and essence, its dreams and values are futile, just as the revolution  that began in 1988 brought victory to the liberation of Artsakh, so a  non-violent velvet popular revolution must inevitably lead to  international recognition, de facto recognition of Artsakh's self-  determination.

And consequently, my appeal and request: let us not use our national  energy and strength in any way, on any platform, to deviate from this  goal, to tire ourselves out, to wear ourselves out, to indulge in  despair.  And in general, as we continue the theme of change in  thinking, I want to draw the attention of all of us to one fact.  Usually we perceive ourselves, our work and our mission in the  perspective of several years, sometimes decades, sometimes worse -  months and weeks. This is objectively understandable because everyday  problems, concerns, agendas, as well as criticism and intrigue  inevitably put us in this situation.  In a situation where we start  to take the picture in the context of previous and next elections,  and the period between elections is very fast, especially when  elections are frequent and diverse in a democratic society.  And  because of this circumstance, we often forget the exceptional  historical mission that lies on our shoulders, the exceptional honour  that we have been fortunate to have. By the way, this is true not  only for public officials, but also for all citizens, for a nation  vested with the exceptional mission of forming a government in modern  society.

And in this symbolic place and for a symbolic occasion, I want to  state that we are not only current political, economic, public  figures, although solving issues of exceptional importance, but also  the proud and victorious descendants of Hayk Nahapet, the descendants  of the people with a millennia-old history, the Kingdom of Van, The  Kingdom of Yervanduni, the Kingdom of Artashesyan, the Kingdom of  Arshakuni, the Kingdom of Bagratuni, the Kingdom of Cilicia, the  First Republic of Armenia, and we should first and foremost consider  our activities in the chain of previous and subsequent millennia.   Our mission is to get rid of the burden of failure of the previous  millennia, to revive the formulas of success of the previous  millennia, to make these formulas a national way of thinking and  national identity, and thus to ensure the creative competitiveness of  future generations on planet Earth.  So, let us emphasize that we are  de jure the followers of the work of our glorious kings and great  thinkers of the past, statesmen, teachers, architects, builders,  scientists, writers and artists, military leaders, diplomats,  industrialists and businessmen, and we should strive to become  exactly so de facto. Or, at a minimum, we must create real  opportunities for our descendants to become like that. And I would  like for us to see just such a symbol at the heart of our ceremony  today.

Back to the direct and main content of today's ceremony, first of  all, I would like to thank Third President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan  for the services he rendered to our people and statehood, and  especially for the joint work done over the past years.

Recently, during our narrow discussions I said and now I want to  repeat it publicly: after the Armenian non-violent velvet revolution  of 2018, nobody faced a more difficult situation than President Bako  Sahakyan. He faced a difficult task in political, moral and human  terms, and a situation was full of dilemmas, traps and ambiguities.

Over the past year, our relations were affected by the imprint and  influence of those dilemmas, ambiguities, pitfalls, but I can  honestly say that we have overcome all these obstacles without  exception, and now I can say that I have made a reliable friend in  the person of Third President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan, and I am glad  and grateful for that.

And finally, I congratulate the newly elected Fourth President Arayik  Harutyunyan on assuming the office of President of Artsakh. I am  confident that cooperation between Artsakh and Armenia will be even  more effective during Mr. Harutyunyan's tenure.  The Government of  Armenia has been closely following the electoral processes in  Artsakh. Before the elections some predicted that a revolution would  take place in Artsakh, while others predicted that a  counterrevolution would take place.

From the very beginning, my position was that Artsakh should not be  the arena of either revolution or counter-revolution. Artsakh could  not be the arena of counter-revolution, because a portion of our  people should in no way be opposed to another part of our people.

Artsakh did not need to become the arena of revolutions, because, as  I already said, the people of Artsakh were a full participant in the  revolution of 2018, and among the participants in the presidential  and parliamentary elections in Artsakh there were forces and  candidates who undoubtedly and unequivocally welcomed the non-violent  velvet popular revolution, expressed their unequivocal support and  loyalty to the people's government of Armenia. In both parliamentary  and presidential elections these very forces won a convincing  victory, and a political figure like Arayik Harutyunyan was elected  president of Artsakh.  This choice means that while there was no  revolution in Artsakh itself, Artsakh is fully and unambiguously part  of the revolution, and by the results of the elections the people of  Artsakh expressed their unambiguous will to implement reforms and  adopt the political course of reforms. In this respect, the newly  elected authorities of Artsakh, the authorities of Armenia and  Artsakh have a common collective responsibility before the Armenian  people: namely to implement reforms in Armenia and Artsakh.

People should see the changes, people should feel these changes in  the political, economic, social sphere, in the fight against  corruption, in the field of human rights, judiciary, freedom of  speech, justice and trust in the electoral system, and I am sure that  these changes will come true.  This is not just a political  statement, it is a clearly formulated understanding, if not to say,  an agreement between the leaders of Artsakh and Armenia. And I want  to clearly emphasize, Mr. Harutyunyan, that I believe in your  political will and determination to follow the path of reforms and  creative changes.  I think that your years as Prime Minister of  Artsakh should not lead us in the past, but should help us not to  repeat our mistakes of the past, should help us learn from the  mistakes of the past, because our mistakes are our biggest teacher,  if, of course, we have the desire to learn, our mistakes are the  biggest incentive to move forward, to overcome obstacles, if, of  course, we have the desire to move forward.  Speaking of changes, we  all usually understand the physical signs of a change in reality:  rebuilt roads, repaired schools and kindergartens, rehabilitated  water pipes and parks. All this is very important. But roads may  deteriorate, buildings and schools may be worn out, water pipes and  parks may become unusable over time, thereby pointing to the  superficial, formal nature of changes.

The same applies to the so-called old and new officials, because  everything is relative: a new official can quickly acquire "old"  features, and an old official can perceive the situation in a new  way, perceive his mission in a new way, learn from his past mistakes.   And therefore, much more important and significant is the change that  occurs in each of us, in our thinking and psychology, in our behavior  and actions. Therefore, I believe that the time has come for a  breakthrough change in our public life, in our individual behavior -  from the president to ordinary citizens, from the prime minister to  the private soldier. I mean a change that will allow us to look  without a twinge of conscience into the eyes of our fallen heroes,  children, mothers, wives and sisters>.