The President of the Republic, Vahagn Khachaturyan, hosted a group of students from the Gyumri branch of the Armenian State University of Economics (ASU) and high school students from several large communities of the Shirak region at the presidential residence.
“I have a special attitude towards young people, especially those who strive to get an education and show themselves in the best way in society,” said President Khachaturyan, greeting the young. He noted that he would write his speech on “The vision of creating a progressive state,” which was presented in the framework of the questions proposed by the youth.
Vahagn Khachaturyan referred to the difficulties of the newly independent Armenia and the principles of statehood formation in a short historical overview. “There was an important principle in the 1990s that we adopted, and we are guided by it until now. We believe that Armenia should be a democratic country. The principles by which the state was formed in the 1990s began to be applied in life and became a reality until enshrined in the Constitution in 1995.”
The president also discussed our country’s achievements, gaps, and problems.
“An essential fact that I would like you to apply as a principle in any situation in the future. It is always easy to look for the culprits elsewhere, but first of all, we must find the culprits in ourselves, dare to appreciate it, and of course, there is no strange, inhuman phenomenon. Yes, we have been guilty and must be able to correct that mistake. The mistake was that there was no response in time, we didn’t listen to the parents, elders, and young people, or we didn’t consider some circumstances. Still, in all cases, we should be ready to find the answer to the question in such situations: why did it happen that way?
Referring to the freedoms obtained after the collapse of the Soviet Union, President Khachaturyan said. “At that time, we were already choosing our ideology, place, role, and position in society, and the opportunities to show ourselves were huge. Now we have greater such opportunities. Most importantly, we all have an equal opportunity to express ourselves. We all have the opportunity to demonstrate our knowledge and abilities, become presentable, and achieve success.”
The president also spoke about state-citizen relations and responsibilities and establishing state institutions.
“When we question what kind of state we want to have, the first among those criteria should be the ability to love. And how do we treat our beloved being, be it a child, a father, a parent, a friend, a girlfriend, or an adult? We want to consider all his wishes very carefully, carefully, gently, etc. How much do we love our country? Time will not be enough if we love our country; we need to know our country by centimeters.”
Speaking about the difficulties facing our country today and their solutions, President Khachaturyan noted: “We must overcome all problems, we must be able to develop, become more competitive, increase the well-being of our country, find the answer to the question of how we will solve the problems we face.
The most crucial question here may be who will solve it. The solution is you, us, all of us together. What we see in “we” is very important. That “we” should be an educated, educated, country-loving, and forward-thinking individual. We have no other potential.
Your opportunities as young people should be used to get an education. We see our future in an educated society, in which there should also be an appropriate environment. Our success will depend on how well we will be prepared, informed, knowledgeable, and see the vision of the country we envisioned before us.”
The president also answered the questions of young people.
