During the event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in his speech at the Square said:

“What will we see if we look back at the 30-year history of our independent state? We will see successes and failures. We will see victories and defeats, we will see tears and joy, we will see inspiration and disappointment, we will see admiration and despair, we will see wars, victory in war, and defeat in war.

The severity of the 44-day war hangs over this square. And this circumstance is the symbol of the crossroads that the great Tumanyan speaks about.

How to live after this catastrophe, how to look into the eyes of the children, widows, fathers and mothers of the victims, how to make sure that their sacrifice is not considered meaningless? This formula is, perhaps, our biggest task: to formulate the guideline of our life, the future, in this land of 30 years of independence, for the coming decades of an independent state. Victory in war has not always been victory, just as defeat in war has not always been defeat.

We must transform our defeat into victory, but we must also transform our formula for victory, because history has shown that it is not necessary to win, sometimes it is not even necessary to defeat others. To conquer means to conquer despair, to conquer stalemate, to conquer destiny, to conquer death. And where were the martyrs? They fell for Armenia to live, they fell for Artsakh to live. And as long as Armenia lives, as long as Artsakh lives, they are alive.”