List of visitors to Tsitsernakaberd

List of visitors to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A wide range of politicians, artists, musicians, athletes, and religious figures have visited Tsitsernakaberd, the official memorial to the Armenian genocide victims in Yerevan, Armenia. It was opened in 1967 following the mass demonstrations that took place in Yerevan on April 24, 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the deportation of hundreds of Armenian intellectuals from Constantinople that marked the beginning of the genocide.[1][2] After Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the memorial became a part of official ceremonies. Since then, almost every foreign official who visited Armenia included a visit to the memorial to pay tribute to the victims of the genocide.[3] A visit to Tsitsernakaberd often includes a tour in the nearby museum. Some notable visitors have planted trees at the memorial.

The Tsitsernakaberd memorial
An incomplete map showing the position of the highest state officials by countries that have visited the memorial
  Heads of State
  Heads of Government
  Heads of Parliamentary body
  A cabinet minister

The most notable ones visitors include Presidents of Russia (Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev), France (Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande), Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Georgia, Iran, Belarus, Romania, Lebanon, Croatia, Serbia, and Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Czech Republic and other countries. Foreign Ministers of many countries (including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several high-ranking officials of the European Union — including José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy) — have honored the victims by visiting Tsitsernakaberd. Other visitors include Pope John Paul II in 2001, Pope Francis in 2016, the Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger, the Primate of All England Rowan Williams, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill I of Moscow, World Chess champion Vladimir Kramnik, World football champion Youri Djorkaeff, English rock star Ian Gillan, Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, French actors Gérard Depardieu and Alain Delon, Nobel Prize winner in Physics Zhores Alferov.

No current Turkish state official has visited Tsitsernakaberd.

Significance and controversies

Armenian genocide recognition is one of the most important foreign policy issues of Armenia, and is the number one goal of the diaspora Armenian organizations. Many Armenians look at these visits as a sign of recognition of the genocide.[4]

O Judge of the living and the dead, have mercy on us!
Listen, O Lord, to the lament that rises from this place,
to the call of the dead from the depths of the Metz Yeghérn,
the cry of innocent blood that pleads like the blood of Abel,
like Rachel weeping for her children because they are no more.

— Pope John Paul's prayer at the memorial on September 26, 2001[5][6]

Pope John Paul II's visit in 2001

Pope John Paul II arrived in Yerevan on September 25, 2001, to participate in the celebrations of 1,700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity as the national religion of Armenia.[7] The Pope visited the memorial the next day after meeting with President Robert Kocharyan. He laid a wreath for the victims of the genocide, made a short speech, and read a prayer.[8][9] The Pope used the term Metz Yeghern (the Armenian word for genocide, which literally translates as "Great Crime") in his prayer, causing a controversy regarding whether he recognized the events of 1915 as a genocide or not.[10][11] Nevertheless, it aroused a wave of discontent in Turkey.[12]

Hillary Clinton's visit in 2010

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Yerevan on July 4, 2010, on America's independence day, thus becoming the highest-ranked American official to visit the country. Her visit was considered "to be symbolic but nonetheless significant" and her possible visit to Tsitsernakaberd became a subject of much discussion in the Armenian media. The United States had not yet recognized the Armenian Genocide officially and by visiting the genocide memorial, many thought that by her visit, the United States sent a clear political message to Turkey.[13] She visited the memorial on July 5, before leaving for Tbilisi. The wreath that Clinton laid at the memorial read "From Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton" although it was first announced that her visit would be non-official.[14]

UN GA President, 2022

Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly, visited the memorial and the museum on July 27, 2022, and posted pictures of the visit to Twitter, where he laid a wreath at the monument and thanked the manager of the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute for organizing the tour. However, he later deleted the post due to pressure from Turkey.[15][16] Turkey's Foreign Ministry then charged that Shahid's visit "has been exploited with the purpose of exposing one-sided Armenian claims and it is in that context that he paid a visit to the so-called genocide memorial."[17]

JD Vance, 2026

U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited the memorial in February 2026 with his wife Usha Vance.[18] Shortly thereafter his social media post about the visit was deleted. The Trump administration has not recognized the Armenian genocide. Vance's office said the post was made in error by staff who were not part of the delegation.[19][20][21]

Refusals

Turkish President Abdullah Gül visited Armenia in September 2008 to attend a football match between the Armenian and Turkish national teams in Yerevan. Since the Turkish government denies the fact of genocide, he did not visit the memorial.[22] Other presidents who opted not to pay a visit to Tsitsernakaberd were Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[23] They refused to visit the memorial so as not to compromise their bilateral relationship with neighboring Turkey.[24][25]

In 2010, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Turkish President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), refused to visit the memorial stating, "it is my own decision. I respect your opinion and you should respect mine."[26]

Politicians

Monarchs

Presidents

Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin (left) in 2001 and Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 (right) at Tsitsernakaberd.
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video icon Hillary Clinton's visit in 2010
video icon Nicolas Sarkozy at the memorial, 2011
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Vice-Presidents

Prime Ministers

Speakers

Cabinet ministers

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visit in Tsitsernakaberd, Yerevan, Armenia in July 2010
Ministers of Foreign Affairs
Other ministers

Other government officials

Members of Parliament / Congress

United States U.S. Senators
United States U.S. Congresspeople
Europe Member of the European Parliament (MEPs)
Other

Regional and local

U.S. State legislators and City Council members
Governors
Mayors

Leaders or delegations from international organizations

European Union

Religious figures

Catholicos Karekin II and Archbishop, Rowan Williams at the Armenian genocide monument in Yerevan 2007

Other notables

See also

References

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