The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western US Central Committee issued an announcement regarding its participation in an upcoming banquet to mark the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of Armenia’s independence, Asbarez reported.

“We were pleased to learn that the nature of a ‘celebration gala banquet’ dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of Armenia’s independence has been revised,” the announcement said.

“We highly commend the initiative to revise the event and make the focus of the celebration the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of Armenia’s independence,” the ARF Central Committee said.

“As such, the reason for us to not participate has been rectified. Once again we salute the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of Armenia’s independence and congratulation our people on the occasion,” concluded the announcement.

Several weeks ago, the ARF Western US Central Committee announced that it would not participate in the “celebration banquet,” which originally was to honor President Serzh Sargsyan.

The ARF Central Committee cited the fact that the 20th anniversary should be “a celebration of the re-establishment of Armenia’s independence and not an opportunity to honor any government official, especially one whose tenure has aggravated the difficult domestic and foreign challenges facing the Armenia and the Armenian nation.”