Officials Light Pan-Armenian Games Torch Near Musa Ler

The Armenian and Artsakh flags in Mousa Ler

The Pan-Armenian Games torch was lit during a ceremony held at the Holy Mother of God Armenian Church in Vakif, a village on the foothills of Mousa Ler in modern-day Turkey and what is historically part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

Pan-Armenian Games committee chairman Albert Boyajian with the official torch, which will travel to Arttakh

The torch was lit by Pan-Armenian Games co-founder Armenian-American philanthropist Albert Boyajyan using a candle from the historic Armenian Church.

The Armenian delegation in front of the Holy Mother of God Church in Vakif, Mousa Ler

Pan-Armenian Games World Committee Vice President Roland Sharoyan said the ceremony symbolizes the unity of the Armenian nation, wherever they might be.

The flame was then taken to the summit of Musa Ler, and will find its way all the way to Artsakh, where the opening ceremony of the 7th Pan-Armenian Games, which will take place in Stepanakert on August 6.

The delegation arrived in Turkey via the recently launched Yerevan-Van direct flight.