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WHITE HOUSE SAYS TURKEY SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE ITS PAST
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/10/16/white-house-says-turkey-should-acknowledge-its-past/
13:47, 16 Oct 2014
After Rep. Adam Schiff reported Wednesday that the White House will
be exhibiting the Armenian Orphan Rug in November, a senior Obama
Administration official told Asbarez in an email that the "President
and other senior Administration officials have repeatedly acknowledged
as historical fact and mourned the fact that 1.5 million Armenians were
massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire, and stated that a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of
the facts is in our all interests, including Turkey's, Armenia's,
and America's."
"One of the principles that has guided the Administration's work in
this area, and in atrocity prevention more broadly, has been that
nations grow strong by acknowledging and reckoning with painful
elements of their pasts, and that doing so is essential to building
a foundation for a more just and more tolerant future," added the
official.
This clarification by the White House was made to Asbarez after an
initial statement that merely stated that the rug "is a reminder of
the close relationship between the people of Armenia and the United
States," and that it was presented to US President Calvin Coolidge
"in recognition of the humanitarian assistance rendered by the
American people to displaced Armenian orphans," without emphasizing
how the orphans came to be and failing, once again, to characterize
the events of 1915 to 1923 as Genocide.
The announcement about the November exhibit rightfully prompted the
Armenian National Committee of America to call on President Obama to
characterize the rug in its proper manner.
"If President Obama's decision to publicly exhibit the Armenian Orphan
Rug is to represent a symbol of real progress, the White House Visitor
Center Exhibit will clearly and unequivocally reference the still
unpunished crime that led to its creation - the Armenian Genocide,"
said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National
Committee of America.
"If, on the other hand, the exhibit purposefully evades the rug's
proper characterization, the President's decision to display this
artwork will be seen as yet another cynical substitute for the
very progress he promised the American people and will be further
evidence of his continued enforcement of Turkey's gag-rule on speaking
truthfully regarding the Armenian Genocide," added Hamparian.
The Ghazi Rug, which is also known as the Armenian Orphan Rug, was a
labor of love by orphans who were rescued from the Armenian Genocide
by American aid workers as part of the Near East Relief campaign that
was mandated by the US President and legislated by Congress in 1915 and
1916 respectively. The entire US population was mobilized to assist the
Armenians of the Near East and as a result millions of Armenians were
rescued from the Genocide, among them hundreds of thousands of orphans.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/10/16/white-house-says-turkey-should-acknowledge-its-past/
13:47, 16 Oct 2014
After Rep. Adam Schiff reported Wednesday that the White House will
be exhibiting the Armenian Orphan Rug in November, a senior Obama
Administration official told Asbarez in an email that the "President
and other senior Administration officials have repeatedly acknowledged
as historical fact and mourned the fact that 1.5 million Armenians were
massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire, and stated that a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of
the facts is in our all interests, including Turkey's, Armenia's,
and America's."
"One of the principles that has guided the Administration's work in
this area, and in atrocity prevention more broadly, has been that
nations grow strong by acknowledging and reckoning with painful
elements of their pasts, and that doing so is essential to building
a foundation for a more just and more tolerant future," added the
official.
This clarification by the White House was made to Asbarez after an
initial statement that merely stated that the rug "is a reminder of
the close relationship between the people of Armenia and the United
States," and that it was presented to US President Calvin Coolidge
"in recognition of the humanitarian assistance rendered by the
American people to displaced Armenian orphans," without emphasizing
how the orphans came to be and failing, once again, to characterize
the events of 1915 to 1923 as Genocide.
The announcement about the November exhibit rightfully prompted the
Armenian National Committee of America to call on President Obama to
characterize the rug in its proper manner.
"If President Obama's decision to publicly exhibit the Armenian Orphan
Rug is to represent a symbol of real progress, the White House Visitor
Center Exhibit will clearly and unequivocally reference the still
unpunished crime that led to its creation - the Armenian Genocide,"
said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National
Committee of America.
"If, on the other hand, the exhibit purposefully evades the rug's
proper characterization, the President's decision to display this
artwork will be seen as yet another cynical substitute for the
very progress he promised the American people and will be further
evidence of his continued enforcement of Turkey's gag-rule on speaking
truthfully regarding the Armenian Genocide," added Hamparian.
The Ghazi Rug, which is also known as the Armenian Orphan Rug, was a
labor of love by orphans who were rescued from the Armenian Genocide
by American aid workers as part of the Near East Relief campaign that
was mandated by the US President and legislated by Congress in 1915 and
1916 respectively. The entire US population was mobilized to assist the
Armenians of the Near East and as a result millions of Armenians were
rescued from the Genocide, among them hundreds of thousands of orphans.