Prime Minister Pashinyan Confirms He Ordered Dismissal of Genocide Museum Director

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed that he personally instructed the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute to submit her resignation.

“Yes, I asked her to write a letter of resignation at my instruction,” Pashinyan said in a brief conversation with reporters following a government meeting.

According to the prime minister, the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute should not have presented a book about Artsakh to the Vice President of the United States, arguing that the Armenian state has closed the issue of Artsakh.

“Yes, I considered it an action contrary to the government’s foreign policy. I viewed it as a provocative act and asked her to submit her resignation,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister further argued that foreign policy is conducted by the government, and state officials must adhere to that policy.

“When the country’s prime minister says that there is no Karabakh movement, what does it mean to present a foreign guest with a book about the Artsakh issue? How many people in this country can conduct foreign policy?” Pashinyan said.

Meanwhile, a group of genocide scholars expressed concern in an open letter regarding the dismissal of Edita Gzoyan from her position as director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Highlighting Gzoyan’s work and achievements, the scholars stated that her forced removal sends a disturbing signal to scholars and historians around the world. According to them, it suggests that in some cases investigation and historical truth may be replaced by diplomatic convenience.

It recently became known that one month after the visit of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance to the Armenian Genocide Memorial complex, the director of the museum-institute would be leaving her position.