US State Department official visits Armenian Genocide Memorial  Complex

ArmInfo. A delegation, led by Brendan Hanrehan, Senior Bureau official for the  Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the US State Department, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.

As reported by the press service of the Armenian Genocide  Museum-Institute (AGMI), the delegation was accompanied to the  memorial by AGMI Director Edita Gzoyan. Henrehen laid a wreath at the  memorial to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.  Afterwards, the guests laid flowers at the Eternal Flame and observed  a minute of silence to honored the  innocent victims of the Armenian  Genocide.  Gzoyan told the guests about the history of three  khachkars in the Tsitsernakaberd complex, dedicated to Armenians who  were victims of massacres organized by the Azerbaijani government in  the late 20th century in  Sumgait, Kirovabad and Baku. Additionally,  she shared the stories of five freedom fighters buried near the  Memorial Wall  who lost their lives during the Artsakh War. 

The AGMI director also showed the delegation special niches where  small jugs of soil are collected. She explained that the soil was  taken from the graves of foreign public and political figures,  intellectuals and missionaries who spoke out against the massacres of  Armenians and the Genocide committed by the Turkish government in the  late 19th and early 20th centuries.  She  talked about the efforts of  economist Henry Morgenthau and nurse Clara Barton to raise awareness  in American society about the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman  Empire. The AGMI Director noted that the recognition of the Armenian  Genocide by the United States was also a tribute to the memory of  these people. In conclusion, Gzoyan expressed gratitude to the  delegation for their visit and presented Brendan Hanrehan with books  on the Armenian Genocide.