Military hostilities in early April proved that Armenia’s generation of independence is the master and guardian of our state, President Serzh Sargsyan said Saturday, May 28.

On the night of April 1-2, the Azerbaijani army launched a large-scale military offensive against Nagorno Karabakh, with around 100 soldiers and civilians killed from the Armenian side, and hundreds more from their side. A verbal agreement on the cessation of hostilities was arranged on April 5.

Sargsyan, accompanied by the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Garegin II, top officials and guests participated in the events celebrating the Republic Day.

“Our independence and our statehood were no gift,” Sargsyan said.

“We paid for them a price nobody has ever paid. And we did it by ourselves.”

“There will be no Battle of Sardarabad anymore. The new generation wants to move in step with the contemporary world, and it will. On May 28, our nation stepped back from the verge of the abyss and moved towards rebirth, creation, and toiling,” the President added.

The Battle of Sardarabad was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad, Armenia from May 21–29, 1918. The battle was aimed at not only stopping the Ottoman advance into the rest of Armenia but also preventing the complete destruction of the Armenian nation. The battle holds a special place in Armenian historical memory.