18.09.2022


The delegation, led by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, accompanied by RA NA Speaker Allen Simonyan, RA Ambassador to USA Lilit Makunts and U S Ambassador to Armenia Lynn Tracy visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial on September 18.

Edita Gzoyan, Deputy Scientific Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, welcomed the guests. She gave the delegation the history of the three khachkars placed in the Tsitsernakaberd area in memory of the Armenians who died in the massacres organised by the Azerbaijani government in the cities of Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak), and Baku in the last century. She also told the stories of the five freedom fighters buried in front of the Wall of Remembrance (Hushapat) who were killed during the Artsakh war, stressing that what happened was a continuation of the Armenian Genocide. She also referred to the historical and legal aspects of the Artsakh issue, presenting Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian actions and propaganda.

Mrs. Nancy Pelosi laid a wreath at the Genocide Monument; the members of the American delegation then laid flowers at the Eternal Fire and observed a minute’s silence in memory of the innocent martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. The guests, accompanied by Edita Gzoyan, also toured the Armenian Genocide Museum and became acquainted with the permanent and temporary exhibitions there. Mrs. Pelosi paid special attention to the exhibition opened on the occasion of her visit, which presented the American Near East Relief aid organisation’s activities in the Middle East as well as the statements, decisions and resolutions adopted by various US state authorities concerning the Armenian Genocide.

Edita Gzoyan also noted that hundreds of thousands of Armenians, as well as thousands of other needy people in the Middle East were saved from imminent destruction thanks to the efforts made by the American Near East Relief aid organisation in the Middle East and the American government and people’s humanitarian efforts.

Mrs. Nancy Pelosi left a note in the Memory Book for honoured guests.

Expressing her thanks for her visit, Edita Gzoyan, Deputy Scientific Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, presented Mrs. Nancy Pelosi with books which presents articles on the Armenian massacres and the Armenian Genocide published in the American press (“The Boston Daily Globe”, “The New York Times”, “The Christian Science Monitor”, “The Washington Post”) during 1890-1922. At the end of the visit Edita Gzoyan, Deputy Scientific Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, awarded Mrs. Nancy Pelosi with the “Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute” Foundation’s “Henry Morgenthau” commemorative medal for her efforts in the Armenian Genocide recognition campaign.