If we have a clear vision, program, discipline, commitment, we will get out of the difficult situation, President Armen Sarkissian said at a meeting with Armenians of Qatar.
Within the framework of his working visit to the State of Qatar, President Armen Sarkissian met with members of the executive body of the Armenian community of Qatar at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Doha.
The President was welcomed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the State of Qatar Armen Sargsyan, the Pastor of the Armenian Diocese of Qatar, Archbishop Poghos Tinkjian.
In his speech, the President referred to the Armenian-Qatari relations, as well as the situation in Armenia.
Noting that the Armenian Embassy in the State of Qatar was opened with the active support of the Emir of the State of Qatar, President Sarkissian once again thanked the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the friendly people of Qatar for this “special step of friendship.”
“We must do everything to strengthen and expand this friendship, the fraternal relations between the two peoples,” the Armenian President said.
Referring to his working visit, President Sarkissian particularly noted. “During this visit, I met with the Emir, Emir’s father, Sheikha Moza and other officials. They reaffirmed their warm attitude towards our state and people and their readiness to cooperate.”
“We see this cooperation in different directions, first of all in the field of culture and education. I mean the “Qatar Foundation”. We spoke with Sheikha Moza of the Foundation about the cooperation between educational systems and startups in the field of modern technologies, science, artificial intelligence, information technologies. Sheikha Moza was in Armenia for a day years ago, she is very impressed and intends to pay another visit,” Armen Sarkissian said.
“There are programs related to Armenia-Qatar economic relations. They can be, for example, in the field of tourism, where Qatar has a huge potential. The same applies to Armenia. Unfortunately, that potential has not been utilized. Actually, tourism in Armenia can increase several times, it can bring a huge investment to our country. Cooperation between institutions at the state level in the field of energy, new technologies and modern technologies is also essential,” the President said, noting that the interest of Qatar in investing in Armenia is of great importance.
“I have had many visits not only to this country, but also to the UAE, and recently for the first time a high-ranking Armenian state delegation visited Saudi Arabia, a country with which we have not had diplomatic relations for 30 years. And I’m glad to say that during that visit, my meetings with Prince Mohammed bin Salman established a relationship. I saw the same warm attitude there. We have not had diplomatic relations for 30 years, and the head of state says the warmest words about our people,” President Sarkissian noted.
“We must move forward, that is the logic of life. One of the greatest values of Armenians is a very strong sense of survival. If we were able to survive after the Armenian Genocide, we were able to recover in different centers of the world, from Qatar to Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Moscow, to build churches and a schools in distant Siberian cities, to remain Armenian, then we are able to look to the future, recover and move forward,” the President emphasized.
“This defeat is painful, it is tragic, because we lost thousands of young lives, we have boys in captivity, we must do everything to bring them back, because each of them is a member of our family. But we must also think about the future. If we do not think today, we will face even greater difficulties,” he added.
“If we have a clear vision, program, discipline, commitment, and unite nationally, I am sure we will get out of this situation. The past of our people proves that we have all the highest values to get out of this situation, to think about further victories – economic, political and demographic,” Armen Sarkissian concluded.