26.10.2023


Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture of France, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit, headed a delegation visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial complex, accompanied by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia Zhanna Andreasyan, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to France Hamik Tolmajian and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia Olivier Decotigny on October 26.

Edita Gzoyan, acting director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, welcomed the guests and presented the history of the creation of the Memorial complex. She then narrated the story of the three khachkars placed in Tsitsernakaberd in memory of the Armenians who died in the massacres organized by the government of Azerbaijan in the cities of Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak) and Baku at the end of the 20th century, as well as the stories of the five freedom fighters buried in front of Memory Wall who died during the Artsakh struggle for survival, emphasizing the connection between the Armenian Genocide and contemporary acts of persecution and violence against Armenians. She also referred to the historical and legal aspects of the Artsakh issue and described Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian actions and propaganda.

Madame Rima Abdul Malak laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, after which the accompanying guests laid flowers at the Eternal Fire and observed a minute’s silence in memory of the innocent martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.

Mrs. Gzoyan accompanied the guests to the Memory Wall, which contains, in special niches in its reverse side, small containers of soil taken from the graves of a number of 19th and 20th century foreign public figures, politicians, intellectuals and missionaries who raised voices of protest against the massacres and deportations of Armenians carried out by the Turkish government.

Hasmik Martirosyan, AGMI senior tour guide accompanied the guests on a tour of the Armenian Genocide Museum, where they became acquainted with the permanent and temporary exhibitions, after which Madame Rima Abdul Malak left a note in the Memory Book for honored guests.

Edita Gzoyan, acting director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, expressing her thanks for their visit, presented the guest with books about the Armenian Genocide.

At the end of the visit the guests also toured Memory Park, where Madam Rima Abdul Malak watered the silver fir planted by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.