Armenia's Independence celebrations in Egypt

26 September, 2010

On September 26, 2010, an official reception took place at the Armenian Embassy in Cairo on the occasion of Armenia's Independence 19th anniversary.

Among hundreds of guests were representatives of the Egyptian Presidency and Government, the Foreign Ministry officials, more than 70 countries' ambassadors accredited in Cairo and international organizations representatives, famous businessmen, politicians, public figures, artists and journalists.

Spiritual leaders of the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic churches in Egypt, leaders and many members of the Armenian Community in Cairo and Alexandria had also came to congratulate on this occasion.

In his welcome speech Ambassador of Armenia in Egypt H.E. Dr. Armen Melkonian mentioned particularly the challenges of Armenia and the Armenian-Egyptian cooperation prospects.

Speech of the Ambassador H.E. Dr. Armen Melkonian on the Occasion of the 19th Anniversary of Armenia's Independence

Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Dear friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

For many centuries consecutive generations of Armenians were dreaming for Independence. And not just dreaming, but struggling for freedom, sacrificing their lives to achieve the sacred goal, which they consider as the only means of ensuring the survival and decent existence for a whole nation of ancient history and rich cultural heritage. Armenians suffered a lot because of being deprived of their own statehood. They lost too much during their history, but they never gave up and never abandoned the idea of regaining independence.
September 21, 1991 was the day when the dreams and aspirations of our people became a reality. Following a nationwide referendum on that day, Armenia declared its independence. Thus, the people of Armenia took into their hands the responsibility of shaping their own future.
Today, 19 years after that unforgettable moment, we may stress that even that period, which from a historic perspective is too short, was quite enough to fulfill the expectations of the people of Armenia and to ensure significant achievements and accomplishments practically in all spheres. Despite the existence of enormous difficulties and obstacles we managed to improve our economy and succeed in building a free and democratic society.
We are committed to the strengthening of stability, security and peace in our region. We contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of confidence and cooperation there. We are committed to the peace process on the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, based on the principles of international law, as non-use of force, territorial integrity, equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
Independence provided Armenia with an opportunity to restore its direct contacts and relations with its traditional partners and friends of the past. Egypt is one of them. For centuries Armenians and Egyptians were strongly interlinked sharing common history and cultural values. In different periods the Armenian community had its significant input into the politics, culture, trade and other spheres in Egypt.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992 there have been plenty of activities and contacts in different fields on all levels, focused on further strengthening our friendship and cooperation. The leadership of both countries have always paid great importance to the development of relations between Armenia and Egypt.
During the past two decades there have been many official visits, more than 40 agreements and protocols have been signed, joint governmental commission of economic cooperation, as well as parliamentary groups of friendship have been set up. Only this year the speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Diaspora and the Mayor of Yerevan visited Cairo.
Just a few days ago the Armenian cultural days in Egypt were accomplished successfully. The next session of the Joint Governmental Commission will be held in December in Yerevan. All these activities give us the full right to characterize the current state of Armenian-Egyptian relations as excellent, based on mutual understanding and confidence.
I avail myself this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all those who are contributing to the development of Armenian- Egyptian relations, as well as to the Armenian-Egyptian community who by all means support the initiatives and undertakings of the Armenian Embassy.
I thank you all for being present today and celebrating together with us the National Day of the Republic of Armenia.
Long live the Armenian-Egyptian friendship!

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