WASHINGTON, DC — President Obama has designated Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to lead a Presidential Delegation to Yerevan on April 24 to participate in Genocide Centennial commemorations according to a statement issued today by the White House.
According to the statement, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes hosted today representatives from Washington based Armenian community organizations to discuss the upcoming centennial commemoration. “Recalling the deep ties between the Armenian and American peoples, they discussed the significance of this occasion for honoring the 1.5 million lives extinguished during that horrific period, and welcomed the principled advocacy of the Armenian American community on behalf of justice. They pledged that the United States will use the occasion to urge a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts that we believe is in the interest of all parties”. The statement read.