On August 18 the opening ceremony of the 3rd annual “One Nation, One Culture” pan-Armenian culture festival took place at the National Academic Theatre named after Alexander Spendarian in the course of which Head of the RA MFA State Committee for Relations with Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan made an opening speech. The speech is presented in its entirety:
“Dear friends,
As I was coming here, I was thinking about the symbol of “Menk” (We). “Menk” is a huge concept. There is a great power deep inside, and we are proud of that.
It is with the inspiring mood stimulated by Menk that has brought together the children of the Armenian nation to open the festival in this spiritual, cultural and glorious shrine.
Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora-we are going to shape our future together. In a world that is getting smaller day by day, we must always remember that Armenians are one, there is one Homeland from the same root and there is one destiny for all generations.
We are different from one another, but united for the sake of the strengthening of our Homeland, the existence of our nation and people, our identity and our future.
This ideology has one name-patriotism and all of you gathered here today are patriots.
Dear friends,
Armenians have symbols that have become sacred-the Homeland, our language, Ararat, Echmiadzin and the love towards our gene, which is almost like a prayer.
The power of staying Armenian is blazing across four corners of the globe.
The Homeland gives a spiritual power to its children; the national, political ideas, as well as those of one home, the amalgamation of the Homeland and the Diaspora, are turning into reality.
Culture is what brings Armenians around the world together and calls for unity. Culture is what ties us Armenians to our roots, creates a bridge tying the past, present and future of the Armenian people and is the guarantee of unity of all Armenians. Culture is the smoothest and shortest way of bringing people together.  It has the power to create; it is the army that doesn’t destroy, but rather builds the harmony between idea and emotion.
There is a place for the Armenian bright colors in the world of culture and it does not lose its color or image during globalization. Our country is small, but it is growing with a leap of thought, with its people, its children dispersed across the globe, who are obligated not only to preserve our national beauties, but also to set our place in world culture.
Dear guests,
The following is the message sent by President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to the participants of the festival:
“This festival is a celebration of learning from one another, strengthening one another, loving each other more and becoming more Armenian. It is a celebration where it is hard to differentiate between the participants, the guests and the audience. “One Nation” is all of us and we are the bearers of the same identity- “One Culture”. Our country is getting back on its feet and we must make our contribution. Before moving on, let us add another stone to our century-old stones and shed light on our parchments.
Good luck to the 3rd annual “One nation, One culture” pan-Armenian culture festival.