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ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Telephone: (202) 393-3434
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.aaainc.org
PRESS RELEASE
Date: January 8, 2014
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA DISPLAYS ARMENIAN ORPHAN SISTER RUG, CALLS ON
WHITE HOUSE TO DISPLAY COOLIDGE RUG
Boston, MA - Last month, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly)
displayed the Armenian Orphan `Sister Rug' at its annual holiday reception
and briefing, reported the Assembly. Hosted by the Assembly's New England
Regional Council, the annual event was held at the Armenian Cultural
Foundation and was widely attended by members, friends, and supporters from
across New England. The program provided a new perspective and a unique
storyline to a century-old issue: the 1915 Genocide of Christian Armenians
by Ottoman Turkey and the Republic of Turkey's state sponsored global
campaign of intimidation and genocide denial ever since.
Assembly board member Lu Ann Ohanian welcomed the audience and thanked them
for their continued support. Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny gave
an update on the organization's activities in Washington, D.C. including
efforts to properly display the Coolidge rug held by the White House.
Ardouny highlighted the efforts of Congressmen David Valadao (R-CA) and
Adam Schiff (D-CA), lead sponsors of a letter signed by over 30 Members of
Congress urging President Obama to display publicly the iconic carpet.
Ardouny told the audience that the Assembly has urged successive
administrations, dating back to President Bill Clinton, to release the rug
for an official display and has worked with the Armenian Caucus to have the
carpet displayed, not just at the Smithsonian, but also at the White House
and in the U.S. Congress. In a timely development, Rep. Adam Schiff has
written to President Obama to release the Coolidge rug for an upcoming
event he is planning on Capitol Hill.
Ardouny also shared with the audience a letter from National Security
Advisor Antony Blinken to Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), who was among
the first to write to President Obama in October urging release of the
carpet. While Blinken repeated the Administration's reasoning not to
release the rug to the Smithsonian, Blinken indicated it `doesn't preclude
the possibility of the rug's display in the future.'
Assembly board member Van Krikorian gave remarks and introduced Shant
Mardirossian, chairman of the board of directors of the Near East
Foundation. Mardirossian took the audience through the life and times of
Armenian genocide survivors, the noble American rescue and relief effort
and a look at some of the orphans rescued by the Near East Foundation, then
called Near East Relief. He also brought to life the story of the Ghazir
orphanage and the selfless sacrifice of its director Jakob `Papa' Kunzler
by showing clips of a 1920's era film made by the German missionary
Johannes Lepsius, depicting life in Near East Relief orphanages and refugee
camps. The Ghazir orphanage was built and operated by the Near East
Foundation and still exits, today functioning as a school. The presentation
was emotional and inspiring, particularly when Mardirossian emphasized how
proud Armenian Americans should be in the Near East Foundation, an
organization that saved tens of thousands of Armenian orphans, and one that
is currently chaired by an Armenian American descendant of one of the
orphans it helped save.
Mardirossian's presentation laid the foundation for the keynote speaker,
Dr. H. Martin Deranian. The author of several books, most recently of
`President Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian Orphan Rug' fame, Dr. Deranian
presented the Sister Rug and explained how he came upon the story of the
carpet and its personal significance. `The story was first brought to my
attention over forty years ago by Alice Jernazian Haig,' he writes in the
aforementioned book, where he goes on to share the `intimate relationship
which my mother, Varter, had with Alice's parents, Rev. and Mrs. Jernazian,
during the Genocide in Urfa, Turkey, during World War I.' `It was also
in
Urfa that Jakob `Papa' Kunzler, remembered as `The Father of the Armenian
Orphans,' saved my mother in 1916 and helped her to reach Aleppo and
safety,' Deranian writes. Audience members then had a chance to engage with
Dr. Deranian in a question and answer session and were all invited up to
examine the `Sister Rug' and appreciate its symbolism.
`The Assembly strongly urges the Administration to proudly and promptly
display this treasured piece of American history as this historic rug
symbolizes America's proud chapter of humanitarian intervention and the
enduring bonds between the American and Armenian people,' stated Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
Photographs from the Assembly's Annual Holiday Briefing and Reception can
be found on the Assembly Facebook page here.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and
awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt membership organization.
###
NR# 2014-01
Photo Caption 1 (L-R): Shant Mardirossian, Anthony Barsamian, Van
Krikorian, Dr. Martin Deranian, Lu Ann Ohanian, and Bryan Ardouny with the
Armenian Orphan 'Sister Rug'
Photo Caption 2: The Armenian Orphan 'Sister Rug'
Available online: http://bit.ly/1hnX2NM
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Telephone: (202) 393-3434
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.aaainc.org
PRESS RELEASE
Date: January 8, 2014
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA DISPLAYS ARMENIAN ORPHAN SISTER RUG, CALLS ON
WHITE HOUSE TO DISPLAY COOLIDGE RUG
Boston, MA - Last month, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly)
displayed the Armenian Orphan `Sister Rug' at its annual holiday reception
and briefing, reported the Assembly. Hosted by the Assembly's New England
Regional Council, the annual event was held at the Armenian Cultural
Foundation and was widely attended by members, friends, and supporters from
across New England. The program provided a new perspective and a unique
storyline to a century-old issue: the 1915 Genocide of Christian Armenians
by Ottoman Turkey and the Republic of Turkey's state sponsored global
campaign of intimidation and genocide denial ever since.
Assembly board member Lu Ann Ohanian welcomed the audience and thanked them
for their continued support. Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny gave
an update on the organization's activities in Washington, D.C. including
efforts to properly display the Coolidge rug held by the White House.
Ardouny highlighted the efforts of Congressmen David Valadao (R-CA) and
Adam Schiff (D-CA), lead sponsors of a letter signed by over 30 Members of
Congress urging President Obama to display publicly the iconic carpet.
Ardouny told the audience that the Assembly has urged successive
administrations, dating back to President Bill Clinton, to release the rug
for an official display and has worked with the Armenian Caucus to have the
carpet displayed, not just at the Smithsonian, but also at the White House
and in the U.S. Congress. In a timely development, Rep. Adam Schiff has
written to President Obama to release the Coolidge rug for an upcoming
event he is planning on Capitol Hill.
Ardouny also shared with the audience a letter from National Security
Advisor Antony Blinken to Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), who was among
the first to write to President Obama in October urging release of the
carpet. While Blinken repeated the Administration's reasoning not to
release the rug to the Smithsonian, Blinken indicated it `doesn't preclude
the possibility of the rug's display in the future.'
Assembly board member Van Krikorian gave remarks and introduced Shant
Mardirossian, chairman of the board of directors of the Near East
Foundation. Mardirossian took the audience through the life and times of
Armenian genocide survivors, the noble American rescue and relief effort
and a look at some of the orphans rescued by the Near East Foundation, then
called Near East Relief. He also brought to life the story of the Ghazir
orphanage and the selfless sacrifice of its director Jakob `Papa' Kunzler
by showing clips of a 1920's era film made by the German missionary
Johannes Lepsius, depicting life in Near East Relief orphanages and refugee
camps. The Ghazir orphanage was built and operated by the Near East
Foundation and still exits, today functioning as a school. The presentation
was emotional and inspiring, particularly when Mardirossian emphasized how
proud Armenian Americans should be in the Near East Foundation, an
organization that saved tens of thousands of Armenian orphans, and one that
is currently chaired by an Armenian American descendant of one of the
orphans it helped save.
Mardirossian's presentation laid the foundation for the keynote speaker,
Dr. H. Martin Deranian. The author of several books, most recently of
`President Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian Orphan Rug' fame, Dr. Deranian
presented the Sister Rug and explained how he came upon the story of the
carpet and its personal significance. `The story was first brought to my
attention over forty years ago by Alice Jernazian Haig,' he writes in the
aforementioned book, where he goes on to share the `intimate relationship
which my mother, Varter, had with Alice's parents, Rev. and Mrs. Jernazian,
during the Genocide in Urfa, Turkey, during World War I.' `It was also
in
Urfa that Jakob `Papa' Kunzler, remembered as `The Father of the Armenian
Orphans,' saved my mother in 1916 and helped her to reach Aleppo and
safety,' Deranian writes. Audience members then had a chance to engage with
Dr. Deranian in a question and answer session and were all invited up to
examine the `Sister Rug' and appreciate its symbolism.
`The Assembly strongly urges the Administration to proudly and promptly
display this treasured piece of American history as this historic rug
symbolizes America's proud chapter of humanitarian intervention and the
enduring bonds between the American and Armenian people,' stated Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
Photographs from the Assembly's Annual Holiday Briefing and Reception can
be found on the Assembly Facebook page here.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and
awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt membership organization.
###
NR# 2014-01
Photo Caption 1 (L-R): Shant Mardirossian, Anthony Barsamian, Van
Krikorian, Dr. Martin Deranian, Lu Ann Ohanian, and Bryan Ardouny with the
Armenian Orphan 'Sister Rug'
Photo Caption 2: The Armenian Orphan 'Sister Rug'
Available online: http://bit.ly/1hnX2NM