Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has launched the reconstruction of the Vahram Papazyan State Drama Theater in Stepanakert, the country’s capital, this according to a statement released by Harutyunyan’s office.

Harutyunyan, during his presidential campaign, promised to restore the theater founded in 1932.

Harutyunyan met with theater staff today and promised to maintain the exterior of the building.

Papazyan, an actor best known for his Shakespearean roles, was born in Constantinople (1888) and is buried at Yerevan's Komitas Pantheon.