31.03.2025


On March 31, President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. He was accompanied by Armenia’s Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vahan Kostanyan, First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Armen Pambukhchyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany Viktor Yengibaryan, and Germany’s Ambassador to Armenia Claudia Bubb.

The guests were welcomed by Dr. Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, who guided them to the memorial and presented the history of its creation and significance. Dr. Gzoyan also spoke about the three cross-stones (khachkars) located within the Tsitsernakaberd complex, dedicated to the memory of Armenians who were massacred in the late 20th century in Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak), and Baku by the Azerbaijani government, highlighting the continuity between these atrocities and the Armenian Genocide.

President Steinmeier laid a wreath at the memorial monument, paying tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The guests also placed flowers at the Eternal Flame and observed a moment of silence in memory of the innocent victims.

Dr. Gzoyan then guided the delegation to the Memorial Wall, behind which small urns filled with soil are placed in specially designed niches. These contain earth collected from the graves of foreign politicians, intellectuals, and missionaries who, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, raised their voices against the massacres and genocide of Armenians carried out by the Ottoman authorities.

Particular attention was paid to the humanitarian efforts and advocacy of German figures Johannes Lepsius and Armin Wegner, whose work in support of the Armenian people was received with deep interest by the visitors. Photos courtesy of Armenpress News Agency.