May 28 heralded physical deliverance and political rebirth of Armenians: President

YEREVAN, May 29./ARKA/. May 28, 1918 heralded our physical deliverance and political rebirth; consequently, our people’s valor and vigor were superbly manifested during the Great Patriotic War and in the battle of Artsakh (Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh-ARKA), President Serzh Sargsyan said Tuesday in his congratulatory message on the occasion of the Republic Day. 

“95 years ago at Gharakilisa, Bash-Aparan and particularly here, in Sardarapat, we were put to a fatal test. It was a nationwide test for old and young, clergy and military, Dashnaks and Communists, officials and peasantry. All of us. In the last patch of historic Armenia, the last handful of Armenians living in their Fatherland were combating. Here we stopped and forced back the enemy; and the world had neither illusions nor doubts about the adversary’s racist and anti-Armenian intentions. Here the Armenians of Eastern Armenia averted the impending calamity. The Genocide that originated in the Ottoman Turkey and was consistently perpetrated and proliferated was stopped here owing to our spirit of unity,” he said as he attended celebrations in Sardarapat. 

President highlighted for many nations the declaration of independence was a political act and even a grand ceremony whereas for the Armenians it was an ordeal. 

“We did not even know that one or two days after the courageous May battles we would declare independence. We created Armenia’s statehood right in the battle field at the expense of enormous casualties and losses, thanks to blood and faith, standing behind each other, looking forward. United!”

Sargsyan noted “today, here at Sardarapat, the Armenian soldier’s firm tread and victorious spirit testify in the best possible way that we know the formula of survival and victory.”

“Why did we erect this monument and regularly come here? As the poet Paruyr Sevak said: “You, generations, get to know yourself through Sardarapat.” We need to remember and remind and convey to the younger generations the important message left by the ones who prepared and made May 28 a reality,” he noted.

President Sargsyan appealed to all Armenians to be united, consolidated by statehood and rely on their own strength. 

Thus, according to him, the Armenians are capable not only to restore their statehood and independence disrupted for centuries but make considerable achievements. 

“Their foundations were laid here and today we are standing here proudly as citizens of a free and independent country, the heirs of heroic grandfathers.”

The Armenian people are celebrating the 95th anniversary of the First Republic that collapsed on 2 December 1920. 

May 28 is the Day of the First Republic in Armenia.  

On May 26, 1918, after  the South Caucasian Seim collapsed, Georgia declared its independence. 

The Assembly of Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutiun, then the main Armenian party, handed over government powers to the Armenian National Council in Tiflis. 

On May 28, Armenian National Council declared independence. Yerevan was chosen as the capital, and Hovhannes Qajaznuni was the first prime minister. On this day, the Armenian officials headed by the president and prime minister attend Sardarapat Memorial in order to commemorate all the heroes who gave their lives to defend their motherland in Sardarapat, 1918. 

In May, 1918, Armenians defeated the Turks  near Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Karakilisa.

The celebrations on this day include the military parades near the memorial and some other events. -0-