STEPANAKERT, YEREVAN—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s 33rd World Congress, currently underway in the Artsakh capital, released a statement on Monday announcing that “the ARF World Congress, which is its fifth day, unexpectedly received welcoming remarks from Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.”

Below is Pashinyan’s statement on the ARF World Congress, published by the prime minister’s press office.

I welcome the delegates and guests of the 33rd General Assembly of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

The ARF has covered a great historic path: heroic and tragic, sometimes contradictory and uncertain, sometimes definitively right, often persecuted, but you have always shared the fate of your people.

Dashnaktsutyun has played a crucial role in the preservation of the Armenian national identity around the globe by promoting Diaspora communities and Armenian organizations.

ARF’s return and, as you put it more accurately, its reinstatement in the Homeland was a landmark event not only for the party, but also for the Armenian nation, especially in the political life of Armenia and Artsakh.

I wish the World Congress success in its activities, effective work, as well as wise and forward-looking decisions. I wish the meeting participants, all ARF family members every success in their patriotic endeavors.

On behalf of the majority of the newly elected parliament of Armenia and on my own behalf, I assure you that we are ready to cooperate with the ARF. We will also be open to your suggestions and criticisms.

I hope that after the 33rd General Assembly, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will re-emerge before its members, supporters and the entire Armenian nation not only with its great 129 years of experience, rich traditions, but also with new incentives, fresh ideas and a lively spirit.

Good luck.