US Vice President J.D. Vance, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex with his wife, Usha Vance. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was absent.
The Genocide Museum-Institute reports that the US Vice President was greeted by the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Edita Gzoyan; the RA Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport, Zhanna Andreasyan; and the US Chargé d’Affaires in the Republic of Armenia, David Allen.
Edita Gzoyan accompanied J.D. Vance and his wife to the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex, explaining the history of its construction.
J.D. Vance laid a wreath at the memorial in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The guests then laid flowers at the eternal flame and observed a moment of silence in memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Edita Gzoyan also spoke about the Memorial Wall, behind which, in special niches, are small jars filled with soil taken from the graves of a number of foreign public figures, politicians, intellectuals, and missionaries who protested the mass killings of Armenians and the genocide committed by the Turkish government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Speaking about the pro-Armenian activities of Henry Morgenthau and Clara Barton, she emphasized that thanks to their work, the American public was well aware of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States is also a tribute to their memory.
He also touched on the three khachkars erected in the Tsitsernakaberd area in memory of the Armenian victims of the massacres orchestrated by the Azerbaijani government in the cities of Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak), and Baku at the end of the last century, as well as the stories of five freedom fighters buried in front of the Memorial Wall during the Artsakh War, emphasizing the connection between these events and the Armenian Genocide.
At the end of his visit, the US Vice President signed the Book of Distinguished Guests at the Armenian Genocide Museum, noting: “With profound respect for the fallen, we honor the resilience and unwavering spirit of the Armenian people. May America and Armenia strive together for a future of peace and understanding.”
Expressing gratitude for the visit, Armenian Genocide Museum Director Edita Gzoyan presented J.D. Vance with books on the Armenian Genocide and the Artsakh issue.
It should be noted that Vance did not visit the Genocide Museum-Institute.