Asbarez: NAASR Decries Pashinyan’s Dismissal of AGMI Director

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research issued the below statement on the dismissal of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

We wish to express our deep concern about the unjustifiable dismissal of Dr. Edita Gzoyan as Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute at the behest of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

As an organization, NAASR has had a productive and respectful relationship with Dr. Gzoyan, as we have with her predecessors, as we hope to have with future directors, and as we have with other outstanding institutions in Armenia with which we cultivate strong relationships. However, such academic partnerships are built on trust established through a mutual understanding of academic independence and integrity. An institution as important as the AGMI, with the vital task of documenting, memorializing, and informing about the Armenian Genocide—especially in the face of unwavering denial—must be allowed to carry out its work without being forced to compromise for political expediency, or it will lose its credibility.

According to the Prime Minister, he demanded Dr. Gzoyan’s resignation because she took the “provocative” action of giving U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance “a book about the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] issue” during Vance’s visit to Tsitsernakaberd, which, he explained, placed her in opposition to Armenia’s foreign policy. “Any state official in Armenia who makes a statement that contradicts the foreign policy pursued by the government should be dismissed from their position,” Pashinyan stated.

What was Gzoyan’s offense? She presented Vice President Vance with four volumes during his official visit:” The Armenian Genocide: Prelude and Aftermath: As Reported in the U.S. Press. The New York Times,” Volume 1 (1890-1914) & Volume II (1915-1922), compiled and edited by Rev. Vahan Ohanian and Ara Ketibian (2018); “Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian” (2020); “Documenting the Crime: The Armenian Genocide in Words and Images” (2024); and “Azeri Aggression against Armenians in Transcaucasia (1905-1921): Reports from the U.S. Press”, edited by Ara Ketibian (2023).

There is no book here “about the Artsakh issue,” as the term is generally used, so we must infer that the problematic book was “Azeri Aggression against Armenians in Transcaucasia (1905-1921): Reports from the U.S. Press”, which is, as the title suggests, a collection of articles from American newspapers in the early part of the twentieth century. It is perhaps relevant to note that the editor’s preface contains strongly worded but not inaccurate descriptions of Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh between 2020 and 2023.

As it happened, Vice President Vance was sufficiently moved by his visit to post a statement about honoring the victims of the Armenian Genocide, a post he later deleted, much to his discredit but through no fault of Dr. Gzoyan’s.

Dr. Gzoyan is widely respected for her work as a scholar and as the Director of the AGMI. She presented materials to Vice President Vance that provide factual historical information. Notwithstanding Prime Minister Pashinyan’s statements to the contrary, her actions can only be seen as contradicting his foreign policy if that policy runs counter to historical facts. If that is the case, then the problem would lie not with the historical record but with the policy’s relationship to it.

We strongly urge the Armenian government to cease this damaging attack on the credibility of the AGMI. We call on the Prime Minister to reinstate Dr. Gzoyan, repair the breach of trust that has occurred, and reassure the international community that the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute is able to carry out its scholarly mission free from external interference. Under no circumstances should a perceived misalignment between policy and fact lead to the suppression of the historical record or to punitive action against those entrusted with preserving and safeguarding it.

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