YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg visited on Thursday the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.
Thunberg was greeted there by Edita Gzoyan, the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.
Gzoyan accompanied Thunberg to the complex and presented the history of its foundation.
Thunberg observed a moment of silence at the Eternal Flame in honor of the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, the institute said in a press release.
Edita Gzoyan presented the story of the three khachkars at Tsitsernakaberd, dedicated to the Armenians who perished in massacres orchestrated by the Azerbaijani government in Sumgait, Kirovabad (Gandzak), and Baku in the late 20th century. Gzoyan also highlighted the stories of five freedom fighters interred before the Memory Wall, who lost their lives in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, underscoring the continuing relevance of the Armenian Genocide in the context of persecution and violence against Armenians.
The director of the institute presented the work of international scholars, missionaries, politicians and public figures who raised their voice of protest against the massacres and genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Thunberg listened to the story of Swedish missionary Alma Johansson with particular interest.
Thunberg also visited the Armenian Genocide Museum and became acquainted with the permanent and temporary exhibitions, and then signed the guestbook, “Thank you for your invaluable work. Now it’s up to each and everyone of us to continue spread awareness and demand justice. Never again for anyone.”
Gzoyan gifted Thunberg books about the Armenian Genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.