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On September 4, the delegation on an official visit to Argentina , led by the RA National Assembly Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov and comprised of the NA MPs Sukias Avetisyan and Mikayel Manukyan, visited the Armenian  St.   Gregory the Illuminator   Cathedral in Buenos Aires, met with the Leader of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Argentina and Chile Archbishop Gisak Mouradian, the representatives of the Diocesan Council and Argentinian Armenian communities.    

The NA Deputy Speaker delivered a Speech which reads as follows:

Dear compatriots,

I am glad and proud to be in St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral and meet with the representatives of the Armenian community. First you are on the basis of shaping of friendly relations between Argentina and Armenia , dear Argentinian Armenians. You have proven for several times that living beyond the ocean, being Argentina ’s decent citizens, you remain Armenian and you have established a little Hayastan here. You appeared thousands of miles far from the Motherland, as a century ago the criminal Turkish authorities decided to leave one Armenian in the museum in this world, perpetrating the first genocide of the 20^th century. However, the Armenians’ craving to live in a free and independent Homeland was so great that even the Genocide wasn’t able to destroy the striving for independence. Only 3 years after the Great Genocide the Armenians defeated the Turks in the May battles of Sardarapat, Gharakilisa and Bash-Aparan, preparing basis for the restoration of the Armenian statehood and renaissance of our nation.

Dear compatriots,

The crimes against humanity have no time limitation. We are grateful to friendly Argentina for adopting and condemning the Armenian Genocide by law. The world should condemn the criminals, as well as struggle against the Turkish denial, as the denial of genocide is as criminal as its perpetration. It was not accidental that during his visit to Armenia Pope Francis, speaking about the Armenian Genocide, announced,” I didn’t know another word but Genocide.”

But before that during the mass in Vatican dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide he truly mentioned, “ It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honour their memory, for whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester. Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!”

Dear compatriots,

The April 4-day war reassured that the whole Armenian nation can consolidate in a couple of hours around one idea: to strive for free and independent Artsakh. It was that victorious united spirit that didn’t allow the Azerbaijani people to succeed. However, our struggle is not over. We should consolidate for the sake of solving all-Armenian issues. Today, more than ever, we need cohesion and solidarity. Due to our joint efforts we should achieve the respect of right to self-determination of nations and recognition of Artsakh’s independence by the international community, since there is no option for free and independent Artsakh. Artsakh must live in freedom; it must live as the Armenians want that.

Thank you for your attention.