ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS AWARDED WITH ORDERS

armradio.am
22.03.2008 14:09

The ceremony of awarding the Armenian servicemen that carried out
mission in Iraq and Kosovo was held at the Peacekeeping Battalion
of RA Armed Forces today. The ceremony featured RA Defense Minister
Michael Harutyunyan.

According to the Minister’s decree a number of servicemen were awarded
"Andranik Ozanyan," "Drastamat Kanayan," "Garegin Nzhdeh," "Vazgen
Sargsyan" and "Admiral Isakov" orders and certificates. Another two
servicemen – Armenian Officer, Captain Georgy Nalbandyan, who was
wounded in Iraq, and Captain Vasili Avetisyan received "Bronze medal"
Orders from the Polish Army for operational readiness demonstrated
during carrying out peacekeeping mission in Iraq. All in all, 42
servicemen were awarded.

"Today we have gathered to give credit for servicemen who proved
brilliant when carrying out their mission. The peacekeeping mission is
more than binding, honorable and demands great devotion. It provides
an opportunity to the soldier to use his profession to defend peace,
and we can state with pride that the Armenian peacekeepers are
carrying out their mission with particular willingness. I’m sure that
it’s connected not only with the professionalism, but also with the
peculiarity of being guided by universal Christian values," Michael
Harutyunyan said, greeting the peacekeepers.

The Defense Minister assured that the Armenian peacekeepers will
continue expanding their participation in defending international
peace. The aspiration to get integrated with the European community
creates moral responsibilities of contributing to the resolution of
problems the states committed to European values face. "Therefore,
we cannot stay apart from the international efforts directed at
reinforcement of universal security, since we are not only the
consumers, but also creators of that peace, Michael Harutyunyan added.