01.06.2025


On June 1, a delegation from France's Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, led by its president Fabrice Pannekoucke, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

The guests were welcomed by Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), who accompanied them to the Memorial and presented the history of its establishment. The AGMI Director also spoke about the three khachkars (cross-stones) placed in memory of Armenians who fell victim to the massacres organized by the Azerbaijani government in Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak), and Baku in the late 20th century, as well as the five freedom fighters buried near the Memorial Wall during the Artsakh Liberation War—highlighting the connection between these events and the Armenian Genocide.

Fabrice Pannekoucke laid a wreath at the Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The delegation members also laid flowers at the Eternal Fire and observed a moment of silence in memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Edita Gzoyan guided the guests to the Memory Wall, behind which are small urns filled with soil taken from the graves of several foreign public figures, politicians, intellectuals, and missionaries who raised their voices against the massacres and genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman government at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The guests showed special interest in the pro-Armenian efforts of Anatole France and Darthéz du Fournet.

The delegation also toured the Armenian Genocide Museum, where they were introduced to both permanent and temporary exhibitions by AGMI guide Hasmik Martirosyan. Afterwards, Mr. Fabrice Pannekoucke wrote a note in the Museum's Book of Honorary Guests.

The delegation was then presented with several recent initiatives made possible with the support and cooperation of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, including the French-language audio guide for the museum, the French edition of "Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian", the French version of “The Armenian Genocide and Its Consequences” by French-Armenian historian and AGMI Board Chair Raymond Kévorkian, and the French photo album of the Armenian Genocide Museum, published with the support of the French Embassy in Armenia.

Director Edita Gzoyan thanked the French delegation for their support and cooperation. In response, Fabrice Pannekoucke stated that France, and particularly the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, stands by Armenia and the Armenian Genocide Museum.

To conclude the visit, Director Gzoyan presented the honorary guest with a set of books on the Armenian Genocide as a token of appreciation.