The statue of Aram Manoukian was unveiled Tuesday at Republic Square
Pashinyan calls Manoukian, the ARF leader who became the first prime minister of the 1918 Republic, the “greatest apostle of modern history.”
YEREVAN—Hundreds gathered at Republic Square on Tuesday evening, for the long-awaited unveiling of a statue of Aram Manoukian, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation leader who became the first prime minister of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Armen Sarkissian and His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians joined ARF leaders and members for the momentous ceremony.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was joined by President Armen Sarkissian and Catholicos Karekin II
In remarks delivered at the foot of the statue, Prime Minister Pashinyan hailed Manoukian as the “greatest apostle of modern history,” saying that his predecessor from the First Republic of Armenia had carved victories from defeats and sowed his mission of marshaling the Armenian Nation to statehood after 600 years of living under foreign rule “into this land.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks at the unveiling ceremony
“Perhaps I won’t be wrong to say that in the person of Aram Manoukian we are dealing with the greatest apostle of our modern history. He was born to realize a great mission, and he succeeded. It truly was the greatest mission—to find victories within storms of defeats, to find hope in a flood of despair, to find strength when it seems your arms are weakened and knees bent. Aram Manoukian fully implemented his mission, he never lived for himself, his family or relatives, he lived for his people, he struggled and won for his people,” said Pashinyan to the cheers of the crowd at the ceremony.
President Armen Sarkissian lays flowers at the foot of the statue
Saying that Aram Manoukian walked the very street, where the crowd had gathered, he pledged to be guided by his principles in advancing and strengthening the modern-day Republic of Armenia.
We have our mission. The mission of state and public officials and citizens of Armenia is to be worthy to Aram Manoukian’s virtue and to live in a way to be entitled to look right into his eyes when walking next to his statue and say that we are the masters of his mission, his work is not incomplete. His victory is alive,” added Pashinyan.
After the ceremony, President Sarkissian laid flowers at the foot of the statue and mingled with participants of the ceremony.
ARF Bureau member and head of its political office Giro Manoyan delivered remarks on behalf of the organization, citing Manoukian’s accomplishments as an ARF member, a soldier for the Armenian Cause and a leader who led the realization of the dream of establishing an independent Armenian Republic.