Armenian leader stresses significance of 10 years of cease-fire

Arminfo
8 May 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has congratulated the country’s
citizens on the victory and peace day marked on 9 May.

According to the presidential press service, Kocharyan’s message says
that the end of World War II and the establishment of peace in the
whole world were of vital importance to Armenia and the Armenian
people. The country received the historical chance of peaceful
activities and comprehensive development. Today the state
commemorates the generation of grandfathers and fathers, whose heroic
representatives crowned their nation with glory on the battlefield.

The 9 May has become a double holiday for the Armenian people since
1992. After liberating the town of Shushi [Susa in Karabakh], the
holiday acquired a new sense. It symbolizes the people’s adamant will
to protect their rights, guarantee their security and free
development, Kocharyan’s message reads.

It is symbolic, the document says, that these days mark the 10th
anniversary of the cease-fire in the hostilities of the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict. The fruits of the peaceful decade are
undoubted. “We realize the significance of this and will be faithful
in the future to the principles of a peaceful settlement to the
Karabakh problem,” Kocharyan’s statement reads.