February 21^st marked the launch of the events dedicated to International Mother Language Day and organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora in Oshakan. The participants of the event, under the leadership of RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, visited the tomb of Mesrop Mashtots where they paid their respects and laid flowers.

Afterwards, the local church’s theological seminary hosted the traditional event devoted to the mother language, featuring performances by the schoolchildren of the Mesrop Mashtots Armenian School of Oshakan and the foreign students of Yerevan Mkhitar Heratsi State Medical University.

Greeting the participants and organizers of the event, the Minister of Diaspora particularly stated the following: “Dear gathered, I would gladly and cordially like to congratulate all us Armenians on the day devoted to our ��?golden’ language. Starting the day with a flower-laying ceremony near the tomb of Mesrop Mashtots has already turned into a tradition. Mashtots is the greatest Armenian. We need to pay homage to him and respect his memory and teach our children to do the same. Oshakan is a shrine for the Armenian people and receives all Armenians with open arms. We are grateful to the people of Oshakan for this celebration. Preserving the Armenian language is especially important in the Diaspora. Preservation of the language is the guarantee of preservation of the Armenian identity. If an Armenian child speaks in Armenian abroad, then that is our victory. A mother is an Armenian child’s main teacher, and I would like to ask all Armenian mothers of the Diaspora to speak to their children only in Armenian. I would like to conclude by reciting the following lines from a poem by Hamo Sahyan:

“Our language is our blood,

More precious than blood,

It is our scent and color,

Our language is us, our existence…””

The event began with a prayer by and blessing of pastor of the St. Mesrop Mashtots Armenian Church of Oshakan, Priest Vigen Manukyan.

The children of the local school performed a short play devoted to the mother language and Mesrop Mashtots, as well as played and performed songs and recited poems. The Indian, Persian and Diaspora Armenian students of Yerevan Mkhitar Heratsi State Medical University also performed during the event.

The participants of the event also visited the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran) where they laid flowers near the statue of Mesrop Mashtots. On the occasion, schoolchildren of Khachatur Abovyan School #2 of Yerevan recited poems devoted to the mother language.

The events dedicated to International Mother Language Day continued with a presentation of the books devoted to the Western Armenian language and published by the order of the RA Ministry of Diaspora in 2016 and 2017and a roundtable discussion devoted to the issues of Western Armenian at the Hrachya Atcharyan Institute of Language of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.