ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: WE SHOULD NOT FORGET THAT OUR YOUNG STATE IS TODAY FACING SERIOUS CHALLENGES

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Sept 21 2005

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
Prime Minister Andranik Margarian sent a message on the occasion of
Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia. The message, which was
provided to NT by the RA Government Information and PR Department,
reads:

“Dear compatriots,

I congratulate you on the occasion of Armenia’s Independence Day. By
choosing the path of independence on September 21, 14 years ago, our
people realized the dream of its freedomloving ancestors, established
its firm aspiration to lead a free, independent and dignified life
among other civilized countries and nations, fully realizing that first
of all Independence means an awareness of one’s national dignity,
confidence in ones’ own power, a citizen being guided by the idea
of a sovereign state and statehood, and the preservation of national
values and their proper presentation in the universal values system.

The past years have shown that by uniting around the idea of
independence, we can win on a battlefield and overcome various
difficulties and ordeals. While paying homage to the memory of our
heroes who laid down their lives for the cause of independence and
establishing our independent statehood step by step, we should not
forget that our young state is today facing serious challenges, and
we must be unified in order to confront these challenges – to protect
the state from shocks and “saviors”, who value their own pretensions
above all else or have their eyes directed to other states and their
tending to please others has unfortunately resulted in many bitter
lessons throughout our history.

All of us – the authorities, political forces and the public have
some amount of work to do on our way towards democracy and the civil
society. The most important thing is that we have enough will and
potential for it. We have made considerable progress in the economic
field and in the house construction sphere, which represent serious
guarantees for preserving what we have achieved over the last 14
years and for accoplishing our national goals in the future.

I congratulate all of you once again and wish a good festive mood.