YEREVAN — On the occasion of the New Year, President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia delivered the following speech:
Dear Compatriots,
Year 2016 becomes history; it was the 25th year of the reestablishment of our independence. It was a period full of events and challenges.
In April, there was a four-day war. On the battlefield our people proved once again that its unified strength is unbreakable, the resolve to defend our Fatherland is unshakable. The unity of Armenia, Artsakh and Spyurk (diaspora) will not succumb to the perfidious and treacherous attacks. We will emerge from every calamity even stronger.
Let year 2016 in our memory remain as a year of national unity. In the passing year, we have demonstrated to ourselves and the entire world the meaning of the national spirit, of freedom and resolve to fight for the Homeland.
We will enter the second twenty-five-year period of our independent statehood with the same national unity. The first one was the phase when we withstood the war and difficulties. In the process, we shaped the victory in the Artsakh Liberation War and established the foundation for the eternal Armenian statehood.
