The following unedited statement was released today by Armenian President Armen Sarkissian’s office.

Dear Compatriots all over the world,

Distinguished Friends and Guests of Yerevan,

Today is the birthday of the All-Armenian capital – Yerevan’s Day.

Every one of us has his or her own Yerevan; all of them merge, become one and only Yerevan.

Yerevan belongs to us all no matter where in the world we are.

Yerevan’s historical and cultural heritage in an indivisible part of our values.

It should be preserved and passed on to the generations proudly, as a testimony of our national vitality, irreplaceable source of inspiration.

Yerevan can and should be loved also by a caring and considerate attitude toward the city. Yerevan is a stone city only from the outside: In reality, it is very delicate and sensitive. Yerevan has memory. Yerevan awaits us all with a wide smile and accepts us all generously. Yerevan is pardoning even toward those who left in sorrow or disquiet – one day, one hour, one or thirty years ago.

Today, Yerevan turns another page in its almost three millennia-long history. That history is being written by every one of us – by our work, our attitude, our creations, our thoughts, in the Fatherland or beyond.

Let’s love Yerevan, let’s every day create a new idea, a new dream, a new vision, let’s turn all that into a reality for Yerevan and the residents of Yerevan, for Armenia and the entire Armenian nation.

Happy birthday, Yerevan, my love.