STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 1, ARTSAKHPRESS: High state awards were handed in to the Defense Army servicemen, freedom-fighters, a group of state and public figures, philanthropists, representatives of economic, healthcare, education and culture spheres.

In his speech the President noted that Artsakh together with Mother Armenia and the Diaspora was taking confident steps towards building a free, sovereign and democratic state underlining that during all these years first of all the defense capacity and security of our state and people had reliably been ensured, numerous issues had been solved for developing the state and democratic institutions, ensuring the progress of different sectors of the economy and improving the living standards of the population.

Speaking about the future tasks Bako Sahakyan mentioned that time presented new demands and issues of utmost significance expressing confidence that the state would undertake all the measures to solve them efficiently. "This confidence is based on the unshakable will of our people, the willingness to overcome any difficulty and to be the owners of their destiny", highlighted President Sahakyan.