Pashinyan says he ordered Genocide Museum director to submit resignation

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today that it was at his instruction that Edita Gzoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, submitted a letter of resignation.

Speaking at a government briefing on Thursday, Pashinyan said Gzoyan’s actions during last month’s visit by U.S. Vice President JD Vance “contradicted the foreign policy of the Armenian government,” describing them as “provocative.” 

Vance visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex as part of his official trip to Armenia. Gzoyan showed him khachkars installed at the memorial in honor of Armenians killed in the anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, as well as the graves of five fighters from the 1990s Karabakh war located near the memorial wall, drawing connections between those events and the Armenian Genocide. She also presented him with books about the Artsakh issue.

Also read: Armenian Genocide Museum director resigns after dispute over Vance visit

Pashinyan said such messaging conflicted with the government’s foreign policy position.

“When the country’s prime minister says there is no Karabakh movement, what does it mean to give a foreign guest a book about the Artsakh issue?” he said. “In the Republic of Armenia, foreign policy is conducted by the government.” 

He added that any state official who contradicts the government’s foreign policy will be dismissed. 

Gzoyan’s ouster was collectively protested by the museum’s staff and some board members, including renowned genocide historian Raymond Kevorkian, who resigned. The situation also raises questions about academic freedom within the institution.