On May 28, 2005—the anniversary of the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia—around 250,000 people participated in a Dance of Unity () around Mount Aragats in a mass display of national unity. The quarter million participants, among them then-President Robert Kocharyan and Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, formed a ring around the mountain after a blessing from Catholicos Karekin II. The organizers hoped the event would be included in the Guinness World Records. Prior to the dance, some 110,000 trees were planted on the slopes of Aragats.