YEREVAN (Newsarmenia.ru), February 17 —The ceremony to celebrate the day of the mother language was held near the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan. Organizers of the event are the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and the Board of Education Hall of Yerevan.

“We have announced this year to be the year of the native language, in order to pay tribute not only to our language, but also to attract the attention of educational, academic and government institutions to the problems of the Armenian language,” said the Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakopian. According to her, it is necessary to protect the Armenian language from distortion and foreign influence.

During the event, Hakopian awarded a number of art and science representatives with Certificates of Merit for their contribution to the preservation of the purity of the Armenian language. Among the recipients were singer Ruben Matevosyan, philologist Petros Bediryan, teacher Jemma Ananian, philologist and professor Suren Danielian, philologist and publicist Robert Davtyan, writer Souren Mouradian and head of the news program “Horizon” Shant TV Nver Mnatsakanian.

Some commemorative events will also take place on February 21 at the Armenian National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre under the patronage of the President of Armenia, Serge Sarkisian.

Translated from Russian by Yerevan Report