YEREVAN, ARMENIA – Representative Eliot L. Engel, the leading Democratic voice on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today visited Armenia as part of a delegation with Committee Chairman Ed Royce (CA), and Representatives David Cicilline (RI) and Lois Frankel (FL) to mark the 99th anniversary of the onset of the Armenian genocide, which took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians in one of the most horrific chapters of the 20th century. Representative Engel and the delegation laid flowers at the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, and planted a tree in memory of the genocide victims.

Speaking at the Genocide Memorial, Rep. Engel said, "I am visiting Armenia as part of a bipartisan delegation to commemorate the anniversary of the Armenian genocide. The whole world knows about this terrible tragedy, in which 1.5 million innocent Armenians were slaughtered. I want to express my great sorrow and deepest condolences to all Armenians on this solemn occasion. I also once again call on Turkey to acknowledge the genocide."

Representative Engel and the delegation also met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsian and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, and paid their respects to Garegin II, Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmaidzin.

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