During his working visit to New York, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26.

Below is the unedited text of Nikol Pashinyan’s speech as released by the Armenian government.

“Mr. President,
Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I would like to congratulate H.E. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on his election as the President of the UN General Assembly. I wish to assure you, Mr. President, of Armenia’s full support for your leadership during the 74th session of the General Assembly.

I also wish to express profound gratitude to Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, the President of the 73-rd Session, for her effective leadership and important legacy.

This is my second opportunity of representing my country in this august body as Prime Minister of Armenia. Momentous changes have been taking place in our country since my previous appearance at the United Nations General Assembly. 

Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia last December. For the first time in about twenty-five years, these elections and their results were fully accepted by our public and not contested by any political party. They received the best possible assessment of the international observers, who hailed them as free, fair, and transparent. This was a major achievement of the Armenian non-violent velvet people’s revolution of 2018.

Armenia’s peaceful revolution received praise and recognition by the international community. The international media acknowledged Armenia’s role in the global democratic surge as hope for global democracy. In recognition of our democratic achievements, The Economist magazine proclaimed Armenia as the country of the year in 2018.

Our determination to advance democracy and reforms is solid, uncompromising and unwavering. It is based on the strong mandate of our people, to whom we are accountable in delivering reforms, securing justice, improving economic and social conditions and developing our nation.

Our democratic transformation and zero tolerance policy against corruption are not without resistance from former corrupted elites. Their vast financial resources are directed at escaping justice. Our government has not pursued a single case of redistribution of property. At the same time, our resolve to press with reforms and justice is unwavering.

Our mass media is totally free from government control or interference. However, some of them are not free from meddling and control from the same old circles of the former government, fabricating fake news and spreading mistrust in the public about the origins and purposes of the velvet revolution. Despite any challenge, our resolve to promote and protect freedom of the media is unrelenting.

We have witnessed plenty of suspicion about the nature and purposes of our revolution. Some believed that this revolution was instigated by their global competitors in our region. The others were asking, since they are not behind this revolution, who else could have done it?

From this high podium, I would like to firmly state once again that the velvet revolution in Armenia was carried out by its proud citizens in manifestation of their will to reject corruption, abuse and monopolization of power, consistent falsification of elections and political frauds. There is absolutely no need to approach the free expression of will of the Armenian people, who are the ultimate sovereign of the country, from the angle of the competition of global powers. The political transformations in Armenian were about the fulfillment of a dream to have a free, democratic and happy country, a dream which was born in the late 1980s, at the end of Cold War, and led our people to independence.

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