Washington, DC - With Members of Congress and the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) weighing in, the White House has agreed to release the Armenian Orphan Rug for public display as early as this fall, reported the Assembly.

 

The Assembly welcomes this development as a previous one-day exhibition of the carpet planned at the Smithsonian Institution last December was cancelled. According to a letter from National Security Advisor Antony Blinken to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) last year, "Loans from the White House collection are made for fully developed exhibits, not for one-day private events." The Assembly expects the Armenian Orphan Rug to be prominently displayed to the American public this year.

 

News reports surfaced about Turkish pressure on the White House last year and the cancellation of the event, which led to an outcry by Members of Congress, including Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), along with Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA) who spearheaded a letter to President Obama, signed by over 30 Members of Congress, calling on him to release the rug. 

 

With the Coolidge rug unavailable, the Assembly launched a campaign to display the Armenian Orphan "Sister Rug." Since then, the sister rug has been displayed in Boston, Massachusetts and Boca Raton, Florida, and was planned to be displayed at an event on Capitol Hill with Congressman Schiff in March, but was postponed due to a snowstorm.

 

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Dr. Martin Deranian (3rd from left) with the Armenian Orphan Sister Rug at the Assembly's Annual Holiday Briefing in Boston, Massachusetts. December 5, 2013.

 

"I'm extremely touched," Dr. Martin Deranian told the Assembly upon learning the news of the decision to display the Armenian Orphan Rug. "I have faith in the American government, that it will do the right thing in the end," he said. Dr. Deranian authored the book "President Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian Orphan Rug." "I appreciate the work of our elected officials in Washington as well as the Armenian Assembly for helping to secure this commitment," he said.

 

In 1925, Dr. John H. Finley, editor-in-chief of the New York Times and vice-chairman of the congressionally chartered Near East Relief organization presented a rug made by orphans of the Armenian Genocide to then President Calvin Coolidge. The rug was made in appreciation of America's generosity in aiding the survivors of the first genocide of the 20th Century. As previously reported, the carpet was displayed at the White House in 1984 and 1995, but not since, an issue which the Assembly has raised with successive Administrations.

 

"The display of this tangible expression of gratitude for America's humanitarian intervention to save the survivors of the Armenian Genocide is a positive development," stated Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

 

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.

 

  -   Press release