ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGISYAN TO MEET ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVORS AT NATIONAL CATHEDRAL EVENT HONORING WOODROW WILSON
April 11, 2010WHEN: Monday, April 12, 2010 at 11:00am
WHERE: President Woodrow Wilson’s tomb, located at the National Cathedral — 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016-5098
WHAT: Armenia’s President to honor the legacy of President Woodrow Wilson, who championed Wilsonian Armenia as the key to the post-1915 restoration of justice, territory, and viability to the Armenian nation.
In choosing to join with Armenian Genocide survivors at the tomb of President Wilson, President Sargsyan sends a powerful message about both America’s legacy of support for the Armenian Cause, as well as the enduring commitment of all Armenians to a truthful and just resolution of Turkey’s still unpunished crime against the Armenian nation.
A wreath-laying ceremony will include blessings by Armenian American clergy including: His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Eastern U.S.; His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Eastern U.S., and His Eminence Bishop Manuel Batakian, Third Exarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of America.
The ceremony will be followed by the presentation of a letter from Genocide survivors to the President and remarks by the President.
President Sargsyan has been invited to Washington, DC by President Obama to take part in the Nuclear Summit taking place this week. He is scheduled to meet with both President Barack Obama and also with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. The visit, on the eve of the April 24th international commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, presents the U.S. President with an opportunity to honor his pledge to properly recognize this crime, and the Turkish Prime Minister a chance to announce that his country is lifting its illegal blockade of Armenia and abandoning its campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide.
Discussions between the three leaders will also focus on the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, widely seen as a process initiated by Turkey to extend U.S. silence on the Armenian Genocide from one April 24th to the next.