Manvel Grigoryan, Yerkrapah Board chairman delivered a welcoming speech at the 9th meeting of Yerkrapah Volunteer Union.

First of all he reminded of the 20th anniversary of independence the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Republic marked last year. “This is the independence we achieved due to lives and courage of our fellow fighters,” he said.

Grigoryan said he hoped the Armenian people keep in mind the Yerkrapah contribution: “Artsakh is our name, and Armenia is our surname,” he added.

Grigoryan said, since 1994 “we were not much zealous to persecute our enemy; we contented ourselves with just small part of our homeland.” “Border protection starts with Yerevan, and protection of Yerevan starts with the liberated territories and frontier regions. Our solidarity in late 20th century allowed us to gain independence and win back a small part of our motherland, and now we need solidarity to confront external and internal challenges.”

He stressed that Yerkrapah should always stand beside the army; he also emphasized the importance of military and patriotic education of the youth.

Yerkrapah Volunteer Union was established in 1993. It currently comprises over 10 thousand members, most of them being veterans of Karabakh war.