Monday, August 7 2023 11:04

ArmInfo.Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening ceremony of the 8th Pan-Armenian  Summer Games at Gyumri city stadium together with his wife Anna Hakobyan.

President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, President of the National  Assembly Alen Simonyan, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister,  Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer  Games Arayik Harutyunyan, members of legislative and executive  bodies, other officials were also present at the event.

Nikol Pashinyan made a speech after watching the opening sports  parade of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer Games.

"Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,

Honorable President of the National Assembly,

Dear members of the World Committee of Pan-Armenian Games,

Dear participants of the Pan-Armenian Games,

I salute the 8th Pan-Armenian Games in Gyumri, Republic of Armenia.

And I want to thank all the participants for providing the wonderful  energy of today, this evening, for providing the wonderful  atmosphere. I want to emphasize that today's holiday is first of all  a commemoration of all our martyrs, because it demonstrates our will,  the will of the Armenian people, the will of the Republic of Armenia  to overcome and live, develop and move forward, despite all  complications, all difficulties. And this day is a new symbol for our  future, because we are entering a historical period where our will to  have a state must remain unshakable, our mentality of making the  motherland a state and perceiving the state as a motherland must be  reaffirmed.

I want to welcome our compatriots who arrived in Armenia today from  dozens of countries, especially those who are in Armenia for the  first time, who are in Gyumri for the first time. And I hope they see  the new revival of Gyumri. Gyumri, the second city of Armenia, is  reborn and transformed every day, and the Republic of Armenia is  transformed every day. I also want to emphasize that sport is also  experiencing a new phase of development in Armenia. I have to record  that in 2022, Armenian athletes recorded unprecedented historical  achievements in the world and European championships, winning gold,  silver and bronze medals in international tournaments. But I have to  record with pleasure that as of today, the athletes of Armenia have  already overcome the absolute record of the previous year with the  medals they won in the World, European Championships, international  tournaments, and this is the most important gift of the Pan- Armenian  Games from the Armenian athletes.

Today I also have to record that sports infrastructures are  developing rapidly in the Republic of Armenia. A sports school named  after Artur Aleksanyan is being built in Gyumri, and a football  school named after Khoren Hovhannisyan was recently opened. The  weightlifting sports school named after Simon Martirosyan is being  built. In the near future, the sports school named after Roman and  Malkhas Amoyans will be built in Alagyaz, the largest Yezidi  community in Armenia, the sports school named after Arthur Abraham  will be built, and in general, new sports infrastructures will be  built, because sport is of the greatest importance for us, it is  sport that demonstrates and raises the state flag of the Republic of  Armenia, it is sports that makes the national anthem of the Republic  of Armenia to be performed at the world's sporting heights.

Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,

Dear attendees,

I declare the 8th Pan-Armenian Games open.

Glory to the martyrs

And long live the Republic of Armenia."

107 sets of medals will be drawn for 17 sports included in the  program of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer Games. More than 7,000  athletes from 41 countries, 181 cities are participating in the  Games.