Members of Congress including Reps. Adam Schiff and David Valadao and Armenian-American groups will host a press conference at the National Press Club to mark the opening of the White House display of the Armenian Orphan Rug – also known as the Ghazir Rug – a work of art that has been the subject of political controversy since it was woven by orphan survivors of the Armenian Genocide and gifted to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 in appreciation for U.S. humanitarian assistance following Turkey’s mass murder of over 1.5 million Armenians and other Christians during World War I.
For the past year, Rep. Schiff has been working with members of the Armenian American community, as well as several of his colleagues, to convince the White House to reverse a 2013 decision to not allow the rug to be displayed. Display of the Armenian Orphan Rug is especially sensitive to the Turkish government, which objects to any official U.S. commemoration, directly or indirectly, of the Armenian Genocide. Ankara has been able to block its exhibition for decades.
As the world prepares to mark the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, a crime that claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians, the display of the Orphan Rug will present a new generation of Americans with an artifact that can spark a candid discussion about how the world’s failure to either prevent or punish the first genocide of the modern era has contributed to the cycle of genocide that continues to this day.
Following the press conference, Members of Congress and Armenian American community leaders will proceed the few blocks to the White House Visitor Center to view the Armenian Orphan Rug, which will be on display from November 18th to 23rd.
Source: ANCA Facebook page
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