Saturday, October 18 2014

Several Turkish media outlets have qualified the White House Administration's decision to showcase the Orphan Rug as a message addressed to Turkey.     

Ermenihaber reports with reference to Elazigdanhaber that the display of the Armenian rug symbolizing the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire can be considered in the context of the Washington-Ankara negotiations on the Incirlik military base.  

Pentagon insistently urges Turkey to provide its Incirlik base for attacks on ISIL. 

To note, the White House on Wednesday confirmed earlier reports that it will, in fact, display the Armenian Genocide Orphan Rug as part of an exhibit at the White House Visitors Center, which will run from November 18 to 23, reported Representative Adam Schiff.

The exhibit - entitled "Thank you to the United States: Three Gifts to Presidents in Gratitude for American Generosity Abroad" - will showcase the Orphan Rug, also known as the Ghazir rug, as well as the Sevres vase, given to President Herbert Hoover in appreciation for feeding children in post-World War I France, and the Flowering Branches in Lucite, given to President Barack Obama in recognition of American support of the people of Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2010, asbarez reports.
The Armenian Orphan Rug was woven by orphans of the Armenian Genocide in 1920, and presented to President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 as a symbol of gratitude for American aid and generosity for U.S. assistance during the genocide. The rug, which measures 117" x 18'5", has over 4,000,000 hand-tied knots and took the Armenian girls in the Ghazir Orphanage of the Near East Relief Society 10 months to weave. 

President Coolidge noted that, "The rug has a place of honor in the White House where it will be a daily symbol of goodwill on earth." 

The rug - which has been in storage at the White House for decades - will be displayed from November 18 to 23 in the White House Visitors Center.