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President Serzh Sargsyan has issued a congratulatory message on Army Day. 

The message reads:

Dear Compatriots,

I cordially congratulate you on the occasion of Army Day.

The nonexistence of the armed forces had never had such tragic and grim repercussions for any nation as it had for us. Probably that’s the reason that from day one of its creation our Army has been enjoying a special attitude of our people; from day of its creation, it’s been a national army.

It would be appropriate to recall that we – as a nation and a society, were not thinking of creating and maintaining a kind of army we are having today. We were compelled to consolidate our forces to defend ourselves in the imposed war. We were compelled to consolidate to prevent the massacres and ethnic cleansing that had been carried out against us systematically - right before us and the world. Moreover, we were publicly and officially threatened with new massacres and new ethnic cleansing, and those threats were very real. Some of them were even carried out in those days and later.

It was at that fateful moment that our nation, almost from scratch created its army. The Armenian people created our army living under war, blockade and famine conditions to be able to say just one thing – Enough is enough. Armenians, or anyone else for that matter, may not be talked to in the language of yataghans and threats.

The Armenian Army stood up in a way that the opponent had not been able to imagine or conceive. Neither our adversaries with their propaganda, nor those who were misled by that propaganda suspected the existence of the generation of Red Vartans who descended on the battlefield. They came to say – Enough is enough. There had come heroes who paid with their lives for our right to live and for our dignity. We bow to their memory; it is through their heroism that today our army is rightfully called the Victorious Army. It’s been the force which subdued the adversary into a ceasefire and relative peace, the force which today maintains peace and stability in our region, the force that has been and will be reliable support for Artsakh.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

I firmly believe that the war against Artsakh and Armenia was unleashed and regularly fueled essentially for one reason: our power and our potential were underestimated. They really thought that could win nice and easy. This miscalculation was dearly paid for by all and had sad consequences for the peoples of Armenia, Artsakh, and Azerbaijan.

Today, it is difficult to underestimate the Armenian armed forces. And this is the most substantial argument in favor of preserving peace. Nobody believes in swift and easy wars any more.

Dear Soldiers and Officers of the Armenian Army,

We did not and will not start a war; there is no doubt about that. Even in the times when we had explicit advantage on the battlefield, we didn’t stop to insist that the Artskah issue has no military solution. I wish you to manifest your high professional and great moral skills only during military exercises, as we have witnessed on many occasions in the past. I wish that these skills are never called for, that you are not compelled to use them on the battlefield.

Dear Compatriots,

This day is our Army’s birthday which we celebrate nationwide. I once again congratulate you on this great and glorious holiday. I wish you all good spirits and peaceful skies. For these peaceful skies we are deeply indebted to our Army.

Long live the Armenian Army!