Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening ceremony of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer Games at Gyumri city stadium together with his wife Anna Hakobyan.

President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer Games Arayik Harutyunyan, members of legislative and executive bodies, other officials were also present at the event.

Nikol Pashinyan made a speech after watching the opening sports parade of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer Games.

"Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Honorable President of the National Assembly,
Dear members of the World Committee of Pan-Armenian Games,
Dear participants of the Pan-Armenian Games,

I salute the 8th Pan-Armenian Games in Gyumri, Republic of Armenia.

And I want to thank all the participants for providing the wonderful energy of today, this evening, for providing the wonderful atmosphere. I want to emphasize that today's holiday is first of all a commemoration of all our martyrs, because it demonstrates our will, the will of the Armenian people, the will of the Republic of Armenia to overcome and live, develop and move forward, despite all complications, all difficulties. And this day is a new symbol for our future, because we are entering a historical period where our will to have a state must remain unshakable, our mentality of making the motherland a state and perceiving the state as a motherland must be reaffirmed.

I want to welcome our compatriots who arrived in Armenia today from dozens of countries, especially those who are in Armenia for the first time, who are in Gyumri for the first time. And I hope they see the new revival of Gyumri. Gyumri, the second city of Armenia, is reborn and transformed every day, and the Republic of Armenia is transformed every day. I also want to emphasize that sport is also experiencing a new phase of development in Armenia. I have to record that in 2022, Armenian athletes recorded unprecedented historical achievements in the world and European championships, winning gold, silver and bronze medals in international tournaments. But I have to record with pleasure that as of today, the athletes of Armenia have already overcome the absolute record of the previous year with the medals they won in the World, European Championships, international tournaments, and this is the most important gift of the Pan-Armenian Games from the Armenian athletes.

Today I also have to record that sports infrastructures are developing rapidly in the Republic of Armenia. A sports school named after Artur Aleksanyan is being built in Gyumri, and a football school named after Khoren Hovhannisyan was recently opened. The weightlifting sports school named after Simon Martirosyan is being built. In the near future, the sports school named after Roman and Malkhas Amoyans will be built in Alagyaz, the largest Yezidi community in Armenia, the sports school named after Arthur Abraham will be built, and in general, new sports infrastructures will be built, because sport is of the greatest importance for us, it is sport that demonstrates and raises the state flag of the Republic of Armenia, it is sports that makes the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia to be performed at the world's sporting heights.

Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Dear attendees,

I declare the 8th Pan-Armenian Games open.

Glory to the martyrs
And long live the Republic of Armenia."

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107 sets of medals will be drawn for 17 sports included in the program of the 8th Pan-Armenian Summer Games. More than 7,000 athletes from 41 countries, 181 cities are participating in the Games.