President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are joined by other officials at Yerablur National Cemetery to marked Armed Forces Day

President Armen Sarkissian and Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan were joined by other officials, including His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians when they visited the Yerablur National Cemetery to mark Armed Forces Day in Armenia. In Artsakh, President Bako Sahakian, Artsakh Primate Archbishop Parkev Martirosyan and other officials visited the National Memorial Complex in Stepanakert to mark the occasion.

President Sarkissian attended and spoke at an event in the Ararat Province dedicated to Armed Forces Day and also visited the family of Armenia’s former defense and prime minister Vazgen Sargsyan, who was one of the victims when gunmen stormed the Armenian parliament and opened fire at legislators on October 27, 1999.

Prime Minister Pashinyan attended a similar event in Vartenis, where he delivered remarks on Armed Forces Day.

Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan used the occasion to speak to reporters and announced that Armenia was will receive a new shipment of Russian-made S-30 fighter, saying that next month Yerevan planned to buy a new batch of the fighter jets.

After the event in Vartenis, Pashinyan headed to Artsakh, where along with President Sahakian, he visited a military unit.

The leaders took part in a inauguration ceremony of new residential building for officers. The two leaders were accompanied by the Defense Ministers of Armenia and Artsakh, Davit Tonoyan and Karen Abrahamyan, and Chief of the General Staff of the Armeniain Armed Forces Artak Davtyan.

Tonoyan handed the keys of the residential units to 32 officers. Pashinyan congratulated the officers and their families celebrating housewarming, wishing them well-being and health. He said the Armenian government will continue to focus on social problems of military personnel and officers and take steps to solve them.

Artsakh’s President Sahakyan attended the opening of a new barracks in the military unit located in the northern part of the republic.