STEPANAKERT, MAY 7, ARTSAKHPRESS: The rector of the university Armen Sargsyan delivered an opening speech at the event.  In his speech he noted that on the eve of May 9, such meetings are very important.  Armen Sargsyan noted that although after the third Artsakh war the holiday is perceived differently, all the difficulties must be overcome and victories celebrated again.

"As in previous wars, this time also the students of the Artsakh State University took an active part in the defense of the homeland. 24 of our students have fallen and 2 students are considered missing in action" said Armen Sargsyan, in particular.

 

The attendees of the event observed a minute of silence in memory of the heroes who have fallen during the Artsakh wars.

The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Artsakh Lusine Gharakhanyan noted that the Armenian people are living through hard and difficult historical times, but despite all the losses and sufferings, the Armenians are obliged to live.

We are doomed to live next to the Azerbaijanis who have a barbaric attitude, a century-old history, but destroying civilized values. About 2,000 monuments and 20,000 museum artifacts of Artsakh are in the Artsakh territories occupied by Azerbaijan. 

"We must resist the enemy's anti-Armenian and anti-Christian war," Gharakhanyan said.

In his speech, Norayr Mkrtchyan, Deputy Commander of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, referred to the participation, role and significance of the Armenian people in the Patriotic War, the liberation of Shushi and the establishment of the Armenian Army.

Norayr Mkrtchyan said. "This year we celebrate this  holiday in the conditions of new realities. May 9 is still a triple holiday, as Azerbaijan's temporary control over Shushi does not diminish the value of the Defense Army’s deeds   from 1992 to 2021. During the 44-day war, the Artsakh Defense Army fought not only against Azerbaijan, but also against Turkey, Pakistan and the International Terrorist Alliance, that was provided with military and technical assistance from Israel, Ukraine, Belarus, South Africa and others.

Special units of the Turkish army were involved in the hostilities. Under these conditions, the enemy suffered so many losses that they had to accept the ceasefire offered by  Russia.  By modest estimates Azerbaijan has suffered 20,000 losses in manpower. Both our heroic ancestors and today's warriors have resisted the enemy who was armed to the teeth. The adversary did not think that our fighters would fight to the end. "