PRIME MINISTER’S REMARKS
I believe that, in discussing our national security, one
first has to reflect on our national identity, since national
security is about preserving that national identity—
shielding it from physical and substantive threats.
Nevertheless, national identity is not static. Our nation
and its people have existed for millennia. However, the
notion of what it means to “be Armenian” has changed
over time, in light of a range of circumstances, events,
and factors.
Today, we may not know the meaning that a subject of
King Artaxias I attributed to the word “Armenian”, but
we do know that it differed from how we understand
it today. At minimum, they were unaware of our current existence; whereas, we surely are aware
of theirs. This fact, in itself, indicates that national identity does evolve.
We are unaware if the Armenians of 2,000 years ago considered our current existential interests
as part of their decision-making, or whether such reasoning existed at all. However, in our
current time, we can factor that in—knowing the past, we can reflect beyond just the present
day and immediate future, but also project onto the horizon of the millennia to come.
This may be the pivot whereupon a national outlook becomes an existential imperative, as an
institution up to the task of drawing on our past and present experience to focus beyond just
the needs of today, but project its message into the future—a message that would connect the
Armenian living a thousand years from now with the Armenian who lived a thousand years ago.
Perhaps this is how national identity and national awareness evolve: through historical
experience, through awareness of that history, through the positive and negative impressions
that accumulate over that experience, and through future aspirations, connected organically
with both the past and the present. Over the years, our national identity has developed to an
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