Remembrance Day in 2027

In January 2026, Armenia’s parliament voted to establish a new public holiday honoring those who died defending the nation, adding January 27th to the country’s calendar as a day of solemn remembrance.

The new holiday, Day of Remembrance for Those Who Fell Defending the Homeland, becomes Armenia’s thirteenth official non-working day. The change will take effect immediately, according to Vice Speaker Ruben Rubinyan.

“At our request, the president will sign the law as soon as possible so that it enters into force this year. Accordingly, January 27th of this year will be a non-working day,” Rubinyan announced following the vote.

The holiday is designed to honor all Armenian warriors who have given their lives throughout the nation’s history, rather than commemorating any specific conflict, similarly to the United Kingdom’s Remembrance Day. It will be observed on the eve of Army Day, celebrated on January 28th, which is already a bank holiday.

The change will not affect the Genocide Victims Commemoration Day, observed on April 24th.

Opposition factions either voted against the bill or abstained. Opposition lawmaker Artsvik Minasyan criticized the decision, describing it as a publicity stunt rather than a meaningful act of remembrance.

The decision comes after the government shelved an earlier proposal in 2024 to establish a remembrance day on September 27, the anniversary of Azerbaijan’s 2020 offensive that triggered the Second Karabakh war. That proposal was never submitted to parliament.

Senior Armenian officials, including the prime minister and other top state figures, did not visit the Yerablur Military Pantheon on September 27, 2025, which marks the start of Azerbaijan’s 2020 offensive and the beginning of the Second Karabakh war, or on November 9, 2025, the anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the fighting. Senior officials had previously visited the military cemetery on both dates in earlier years, making their absence in 2025 a notable departure from established practice.