14.11.2024


Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who is currently in Armenia after boycotting COP29 in Baku, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial to pay her respects.

Thunberg was welcomed by Dr. Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), who provided an overview of the memorial’s history and significance. During the visit, Dr. Gzoyan highlighted the stories behind three khachkars (cross-stones) dedicated to Armenians who perished in the massacres of Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. She also shared the poignant accounts of five freedom fighters from the Artsakh conflict, drawing connections between the Armenian Genocide and the ongoing persecution of Armenians. Dr. Gzoyan further elaborated on the historical and legal aspects of the Artsakh situation, strongly condemning Azerbaijan’s actions.

Greta Thunberg honored the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide by observing a moment of silence at the Eternal Flame.

Dr. Gzoyan also guided the visitors to the Memory Wall, where soil samples from the graves of 19th- and 20th-century foreign figures—politicians, intellectuals, and missionaries who protested the Ottoman government’s massacres and deportations of Armenians—are enshrined. Among these was Swedish missionary Alma Johansson, whose pro-Armenian activities deeply resonated with Thunberg.

Accompanied by AGMI tour guide Elen Hakobyan, Thunberg toured both the museum’s permanent and temporary exhibitions. She later left a note in the Memory Book for Honorary Guests, expressing her reflections on the visit.

To conclude the visit, Dr. Gzoyan presented Thunberg with books about the Armenian Genocide and the Artsakh issue, as a token of appreciation for her solidarity.