13.12.2023


Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who arrived in Armenia on a working visit, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, accompanied by RA Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan.

Edita Gzoyan, acting director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, welcomed the guests, then accompanied them to the Genocide Memorial complex, presenting the history of its creation. She also narrated the history of the three khachkars placed in Tsitsernakaberd in memory of the Armenians who died in the massacres organised 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 the Memory Wall who died during the Artsakh struggle for survival. She emphasised the connection between the Armenian Genocide and contemporary acts of persecution and violence against Armenians and also referred to the historical and legal aspects of the Artsakh issue, describing Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian actions and propaganda.

The guests from Estonia 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 on its reverse side, small containers of soil taken from the graves of several 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. They listened with particular attention to the pro-Armenian activities of the Estonian missionary Hedvig Büll.

At the end of the visit, AGMI Acting Director Edita Gzoyan expressed gratitude for the visit and presented the honoured guest books about the Armenian Genocide.