Dear Yerevanians,

Today, I want to declare my love for our city again. And as the city is first of all is its residents, I’d like to speak about Yerevan townspeople.
We have always had half-serious half-joking disputes about who the true Yerevanians are. Some people say that a real Yerevanian is the person who was born in this city, whose parents or grandparents were born here. The people of my generation say that real Yerevanians are those who used to swim in the Hrazdan gorge when young, ate the ice-cream sold in the Box quarter, or watched the Indian movies at “Sevan” cinema theatre. A bit younger generation keeps the memories of moving on the tram hanging down its doors or taking photos on the background of “Kukuruznik” hotel. The representatives of the new generation are more pragmatic: their being Yerevanian is determined with their participation in civil struggle and necessity of claiming their own rights.
So, who are real Yerevanians? Actually, everything is quite simple: Yerevanians are those who love Yerevan, who love it as a caring and loving parent and as a true friend.
And on this festive day I want to greet and congratulate all Yerevanians no matter where they were born. Particularly, I want to greet our sisters and brothers form Diaspora who repatriated recently and ask them to make us happy with their presence as frequently as possible. I also want to greet the foreign diplomatic representations who are in Yerevan, and the employees of foreign organizations, our guests who arrived in our city even for a few days.
Because I am sure that those who have lived in Yerevan even for a few days, who enjoyed the sun of Yerevan even for a few ours, will always keep Yerevan in their hearts, therefore they will become our friends.
My congratulations, Yerevanians! Happy birthday, our eternal city!