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His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, issued a message on the first anniversary of the 44-day war marked on September 27. The message reads:

"Dearly beloved  faithful,

Today, the pain in our souls, we remember the alarming days of the 44-day catastrophic war, the brave resistance of our army to the conspiratorial attack of the enemy. We remember the heroic deeds of our soldiers and military officers, who did not knee before the Turkish-Azerbaijani dominant forces.

The war was a great ordeal, and the calamity that it caused and the serious challenges facing our people, cannot be resolved in conditions of internal tension and division. Our path to awakening requires a high sense of responsibility and the spirit of patriotism from each of us, consolidation and joint efforts to protect the right of our people of Artsakh to live freely, the borders of Armenia, to overcome the social problems intensified due to the war.

With this vision, let us make efforts to unite the nation, to overcome intolerance and solidarity.

By being faithful to our Christian values, let us strengthen our statehood, our national-social life, holding the paths of hope, faith, love and justice strong.

We wish our people always be heard to the message of defending the homeland, of being united, left by our heroes who fell for the sake of Artsakh's independent life, for the sake of our bright future.

From the bottom of our hearts we pray for our fallen heroes, the homeland defenders, ask for consolation to their relatives, wish healing to the wounded, return to the captives and the missing.

It is our request to God that the Lord's constant blessing keep the children of our people in Armenia, Artsakh, the Diaspora, in peace, safe and secure life, always today. Amen!"