Armenia celebrates 103rd anniversary of the First Republic

PanARMENIAN.Net - On May 28, Armenians worldwide are celebrating the 103rd anniversary of the foundation of the First Republic of Armenia, which played a decisive role in the further establishment of the country in the decades that followed.

Defeating the Turkish army in Sardarapat on May 26, 1918, the Armenian troops managed to stop the Turkish invasion of Transcaucasia and save Armenia from complete destruction.

The Armenian National Committee proclaimed the Republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918 in Tiflis following the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic.

On May 29, Hovhannes Kajaznuni was appointed the first Prime Minister of independent Armenia, Aram Manukian was the first minister of Interior, while Yerevan became the country’s capital.

The First Republic’s existence continued for two years when the Red Army units entered Yerevan on December 2, 1920, and the country joined the Soviet Union.

In 1991, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic proclaimed independence, and the parliament declared May 28 a non-working day.

The Sardarapat memorial, authored by architect Rafael Israelyan, was built in 1968, on the 50th anniversary of the victory.