ARMENIAN 'ORPHAN RUG' IS IN WHITE HOUSE STORAGE
#41
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:36 PM
#42
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:37 PM
#43
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:38 PM
Hratch Kozibeyokian speaking during the 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.
The rug 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 genocide of over 1.5 million Armenians during World War I.
#44
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:39 PM
#45
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:40 PM
#46
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:40 PM
#47
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:40 PM
#48
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:40 PM
#49
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:41 PM
#50
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:42 PM
#51
Posted 18 November 2014 - 05:42 PM
#52
Posted 19 November 2014 - 11:43 AM
WHITE HOUSE AVOIDS MENTION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN ARMENIAN ORPHAN RUG DESCRIPTION
10:46, 19 Nov 2014
The White House, in its caption describing the Armenian Orphan Rug,
not only avoided mention of the Armenian Genocide, it failed to even
touch upon basic historical aspects of this artwork's origins, the
Armenian National Committee of America reports.
No explanation of who these orphans were, where they were from,
why were they orphaned, who made them orphans, or what was done
(or not done) to set things right.
Only the prepositional phrase: "Orphaned during World War I..." is
used to define the era in which they lost their parents.
"What would an average visitor learn from this, what lessons could he
or she learn and apply in trying to prevent renewed genocides around
the world? Perhaps that, with enough geopolitical leverage, even
the American White House can be conscripted into genocide denial,"
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said.
http://www.armradio....ug-description/
#53
Posted 19 November 2014 - 12:19 PM
#54
Posted 21 November 2014 - 10:23 AM
Talk about double talk!
TURKEY ANGERED BY ARMENIAN ORPHAN RUG DISPLAY
16:18 * 20.11.14
The unveling of the Armenian Orphan Rug at the White House has hit
the headlines of the Turkish media, spurring violent debates.
Characterized as a "symbol of the Armenian Genocide", it marks for the
Diaspora the beginning of the 2015 Genocide centennial campaign. Some
treat it, however, as the United States' plot against Turkey.
"By exhibiting that rug at the White House, the Armenians are preparing
for 2015. That rug's name is Armenian Orphan Rug, but as a matter
of fact, it was the Muslim-Turkish children, not the Armenians who
were orphan in 1915-1916," said Erol Kocoglu, a professor at the
Ataturk University.
Claiming that history is now blind to the orphaned Turkish children of
the period, the Turkish scholar, who is known for his anti-Armenian
views, said he finds the exhibit an attempt to breed hatred and
hostility for their country.
http://www.tert.am/e...ey-white-house/
#55
Posted 21 November 2014 - 10:47 AM
BRIEF RUG DISPLAY IN WASHINGTON IS VICTORY FOR ARMENIANS
KABC-TV (ABC Los Angeles)
Nov 20 2014
WASHINGTON --
To Armenian-Americans, the display Tuesday of a hand-woven rug at
the White House Visitor's Center represented a hard-fought victory in
their push for official recognition of the killings of their ancestors
experienced nearly a century ago.
"It's a silent, beautiful rebuttal to those who deny the murder of
a million-and-a-half people," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Schiff was one of several members of Congress, including Reps. David
Valadao, Jim Costa and Judy Chu of California, at the event. The
lawmakers represent districts with thousands of Armenian-Americans.
The rug, hand-woven by orphans and delivered to President Calvin
Coolidge in 1925, has mostly sat in storage since the Coolidge family
returned it to the White House in 1982 as a gift. It measures 11.5
feet by 19 feet, took 18 months to complete and contains more than
4 million knots.
Armenian-Americans want the U.S. government to acknowledge that
the deaths of their ancestors constituted a genocide, a term used
to describe violence intended to destroy an entire group based on
ethnicity, race or religion.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by
scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey, however,
denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been
inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
The United States does not call the deaths genocide; doing so could
risk U.S. relations with Turkey, an important ally. Turkey withdrew
its U.S. ambassador four years ago when a House panel approved
a resolution branding the killing of Armenians as genocide. The
resolution eventually stalled.
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged to recognize the
deaths as genocide. But in a 2012 event, as president, he stopped
short of using that term, calling it "one of the worst atrocities of
the 20th century."
Mark Stroh, a spokesman for the White House's National Security
Council, said the president and other senior administration officials
have repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact that 1.5 million
Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days
of the Ottoman Empire
"(They have) stated that a full, frank and just acknowledgement of
the facts is in our all interests, including Turkey's, Armenia's and
America's," Stroh said.
The rug was previously displayed in nonpublic settings as a result of
extraordinary requests, Stroh said. In one instance, in the 1980s,
for a member of Congress, and in the other, in the 1990s, to allow
it to be seen in the White House by a woman involved in its making.
Among the first visitors to view the rug Tuesday was John Marshall
Evans, who served as ambassador to Armenia for two years under
President George W. Bush. Evans said he was replaced as ambassador 18
months after he described the Armenian deaths as genocide and that
the U.S. needs to recognize the facts. He's not satisfied with the
Obama administration's approach, either.
"It's a very miserly recognition," Evans said.
Lawmakers began a letter-writing campaign to the White House last
year after reports that the display of the rug at the Smithsonian
Castle had been cancelled. Stroh said the rug was not lent to the
Smithsonian in that instance because its display for an afternoon
would have been in support of a book launch, which he said would not
have been appropriate.
Aram Hamparin, executive director of the Armenian National Committee
of America, said the display of the rug was progress but added,
"We've let a foreign country impose a gag rule on what Americans can
and cannot say on the Armenian genocide."
http://abc7.com/news...menians/402918/
#56
Posted 08 December 2014 - 10:53 AM
BurlingtonFreePress.com
Dec 7 2014
White House Visitor Center missed opportunity
CHRIS BOHJALIAN 5 a.m. EST December 7, 2014
You know your moral compass is a little off when you censor a story
about a gift to a U.S. president from a group of orphans -- even though
that story makes your grandparents and great-grandparents look like
Mother Teresa.
But this is essentially what the White House Visitor Center did for
six days in November. After a year of congressional pressure and the
pleas of Armenian-Americans, the White House pulled the Ghazir Orphan
Rug from storage and allowed us to see it -- but swept under the rug an
explanation for its origins.
On the surface, it's hard to understand why it should have taken such
a Herculean effort to allow the rug to see daylight in the first
place. Here is the abridged story of the carpet. During the First
World War, the Ottoman Empire systematically annihilated 1.5 million
of its Armenian citizens, ethnically cleansing its Armenian minority
from almost all of what today we call Turkey. Three out of every four
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed. Americans were
horrified by the slaughter as it was occurring, and a newly organized
American group, Near East Relief, tried to save the survivors of the
genocide -- including the children, scattered now across the Middle
East. The group's accomplishments, especially the 135,000 orphans it
cared for, were breathtaking.
And among the thanks to America from those orphans was ... the rug. It
was woven by a group of Armenian orphan girls from the orphanage in
Ghazir, Syria (now Lebanon) and designed to be worthy of a world
leader. It was. It's massive and beautiful. It was presented to
President Coolidge on Dec. 4, 1925. A year later, two of the Armenian
girls who helped weave the rug journeyed to Washington and met the
Vermont-born president.
Cut to the autumn of 2013. The Smithsonian Museum asked the White
House for the rug so it could be displayed. Hagop Martin Deranian had
written a book, "President Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian Orphan
Rug," and there was talk of an event. The White House said no. They
wouldn't release the rug. The event was "not viewed as commensurate
with the rug's historical significance," said National Security
Council spokeswoman Laura Lucas Magnuson at the time.
The real reason was likely real politik: We did not want to antagonize
Turkey, which, despite all historical evidence, continues to deny the
reality of the Armenian Genocide. So even though the rug was a
testimony to American ideals at their very best, it was better to let
the thing sit and molder.
In the last five months, however, Turkey hasn't played nice with the
U.S. in the Middle Eastern sandbox and our relationship has been
strained. So, how did we express our frustration with our ally? For
six days in November we trotted out the Orphan Rug. We listened to the
appeals of House Representatives -- and Armenian-Americans.
But we didn't want to push this too far, so we put this extraordinary
rug in a corner of the White House Visitor Center, rather than the
Smithsonian Museum.
And we certainly didn't use the word genocide in any of the materials
explaining why the rug matters. The caption explains simply that it
was made by girls "orphaned during World War I." It was given as an
endorsement of "Golden Rule Sunday." There is no explanation of why
the girls were orphaned. Could have been a factory fire. And there was
obviously no mention of the 1.5 million dead.
And so as I stood before the rug the other day at the Visitor Center,
I was at once moved and enraged. I'm a descendant of survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, and the rug's existence is a reminder of that
cataclysmic period in my people's history when we were nearly erased
from the globe. The rug in this regard will always hold totemic power
for me. But I was frustrated by the censorship -- at the way the rug
was made a pawn in power politics. I was saddened that the
accomplishments of Near East Relief were not celebrated.
Next April marks the centennial of the start of the Armenian Genocide.
I hope the rug will be set free once again, and this time the story
behind it authentically and accurately rendered. The orphans deserve
better -- as do we.
Write to Chris Bohjalian care of Free Press Media, 100 Bank Street,
Suite 700, Burlington, VT 05401, or visit him on www.facebook.com or
www.chrisbohjalian.com.
http://www.burlingto...unity/20021595/
#57
Posted 22 December 2014 - 09:54 AM
Historical Youtube Video on the Armenian Orphan Rug
Armenian News Network / Groong
December 5, 2014
By Abraham Krikorian and Eugene Taylor
A video entitled "History of the Armenian Orphan Rug (Coolidge Rug)
Made for the White House 1925, a photo essay, with commentary by
Abraham D. Krikorian, and 'scrolling' type written "Afterword", has
been posted on the Conscience Film YouTube site.
The full title Story of an Armenian Rug Made by Armenian Orphans for
the White House: preserving authentic memory of survivors of the
Turkish Genocide against the Armenians.
The URL is http://youtu.be/HZjvE8M9ffU
- MosJan likes this
#58
Posted 10 February 2015 - 10:36 AM
Wow these people have no shame!
Azerbaijan is trying to assign famous ‘‘Carpet of Armenian orphans’’
On February 26 in Glendale Central Library presentation of "Carpet of Armenian orphans" by Maurice Misaka-Kelechyana, dedicated to the unique carpet "Gasir" Weaved by hands of the Armenian women who survived the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, will be held, reports the Glendale Arts website.
The Azerbaijani side didn’t lose the chance of provocation, and stated that allegedly the carpet and its ornaments are "of Azerbaijani origine." Thus, according to the Azerbaijani news website "Pia.az" the carpet "Gazir" belongs to "the Azerbaijani school of Tabriz" and supposedly the eight-pointed star placed in the center of the carpet proves it.
It should be noted that this is the only "argument" Azerbaijani side brings, which cannot stand any criticism. In the center of the Armenian carpet there is no eight-pointed star. Even with the naked eye it is obvious that the central ornament besides the eight pointed corners has also four tabs with rounded ends, forming a Christ, which is the symbol of Christianity, and the pattern as a whole is the so-called "sprouted or Flowering Cross" which is common for the medieval Armenian culture.
However, even if we assume that this pattern is an eight-pointed star, this fact would not speaks in favor of the Azerbaijani side either, as this symbol was often used by artists also in the early Christian period and was called the "Star of David", and in its turn had more ancient roots. In this context, the phrase "Azerbaijani ornament" is not acceptable, given the fact that the above mentioned Tabriz carpet school is of Iranian origin.
Note that the carpet contains more than 4 million nodes and is decorated with traceries of blossoming Garden of Eden, patterns of plants and animals. Ornamental carpet system gives reason to believe that the scenes depicted on it are from the Biblical story about Adam and Eva.
The "Carpet of Armenian orphans" was woven in an orphanage for girls in the Lebanese city of Gazir by the hands of orphans who survived through by selling the carpets and contributions from the American Near East Relief Committee. On December 4, 1925 the carpet was given to the US President Calvin Coolidge as a gift as a sign of gratitude for the help provided to the Armenians during the Genocide. President George. C. Coolidge, when leaving the White House, took the carpet with him, and kept it in his family until 1980. Family Coolidge returned the carpet to the White House in 1982, where he was placed in storage. Despite pressure from Turkey, on 18-23 November 2014 the famous carpet "Gasi" was exhibited in the visitors’ hall of the White House at the exhibition on the theme of "Thank you, United States: three gift to presidents in gratitude for the generosity of the United States abroad." The world's media wrote about the exhibition, noting also about the carpet’s story.Source: Panorama.am
#59
Posted 25 February 2015 - 02:14 PM
Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Tel: 818-500-1918
Fax: 818-246-7353
Email: ancawr@anca.org
Web: http://www.anca.org/
Ghazir Armenian Orphan Rug
Presented to President Calvin Coolidge in 1925
Thursday, February 26th | 7PM | Glendale Public Library
The public is invited on Thursday, February 26, 2015, at 7pm to a
power point presentation of the Ghazir Armenian Orphan Rug by Maurice
Missak Kelechian at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, 222 East
Harvard Street in Glendale. The presentation will be in
English. Admission will be free. Library visitors receive 3 hours FREE
parking across the street at The Market Place parking structure with
validation available at the Loan Desk.
The program is sponsored by the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture
department and the ANCA-WR Initiative "America We Thank You: An
Armenian Tribute to Near East Relief," which recognizes the outpouring
of philanthropic generosity and humanitarianism by the American people
from the onset of the Armenian Genocide that rescued and rehabilitated
over 1,000,000 refugees and 132,000 Armenian orphans.
Msar Palace in Ghazir is about 20 miles from Beirut, Lebanon, perched
on a hill, the Msar (often spelled Mizar) palace in Ghazir was built
during the 19th century by a Lebanese prince, Emir Chehab II. Early in
1923, the Near East Relief organization rented Msar palace and turned
it into an Armenian girls' orphanage, the largest in the area. Under
the American flag, the orphanage became a safe haven for 1400 Armenian
girls who had witnessed the destruction of their country, during the
Armenian Genocide. The place is well known for its rug factory. From
1923 to 1930, the orphanage produced 3254 rugs and around 1000 orphan
girls certified in the art of rug weaving. These girls made history by
introducing the art of rug weaving into the Lebanese culture.
Three years after the Ghazir orphanage was founded and within a period
of ten months, seven Armenian orphan girls wove their masterpiece rug
on behalf of tens of thousands of Armenian orphans around the world.
The Ghazir Rug, also known as Armenian Orphan Rug is a magnificent
11.7 by 18.5 feet rug, woven into 4,404,206 individual hand-tied knots
of figures of more than one hundred animals and plants. The solemn
expression of pain and sorrow for everything lost: homeland, loved
ones and, trust in humanity. In December 1925, the rug was presented
to United States President Calvin Coolidge as a token of gratitude and
it stayed with Coolidge and his family even after he left the
office. The rug was returned to the White House in 1982, and stored in
the storage room for thirty-two years until November, 2014 when it was
exhibited at the White House Visiting Center.
"The Ghazir Rug is not just a carpet; it is a tangible connection to
the first genocide of the Twentieth Century -a silent, beautiful
rebuttal to those who deny the murder of 1.5 million men, woman and
children in a campaign of mass murder, forced marches, rape and
looting that befell the Armenian people from 1915-23. " -- Congressman
Adam Schiff--
#60
Posted 25 February 2015 - 06:26 PM
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