State visit: Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan visits Massachusetts Statehouse
Massachusetts rolled out the red carpet for Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Wednesday – literally, masslive.com reports.
Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh greeted Sargsyan in a formal red carpet ceremony on the front steps of the Statehouse.
A band played the American and Armenian national anthems, as the flags of both nations were raised. According to tradition, the front doors of the Statehouse are opened only when a governor leaves office at the end of his term or to welcome a U.S. president or foreign head of state.
Baker, Walsh and Sargsyan exchanged gifts in Baker’s office, before meeting and attending a luncheon in Sargsyan’s honor. Baker gave Sargsyan a gurgling cod water pitcher. A cod, symbolizing Massachusetts’ fishing industry, hangs in the Massachusetts House chamber. Walsh gave Sargsyan a Paul Revere bowl. Sargsyan gave Baker a statue of a woman stepping on grapes to make wine.
“This wasn’t about the genocide, this wasn’t about the past,” Baker said after the meeting. “This was about the present and the future.”
Massachusetts has a sizeable Armenian community, the third largest in the country after New York and California. The community is centered in Watertown, which is home to the Armenian Museum of America.
According to the Associated Press, Sargsyan is spending several days in Massachusetts before traveling to Washington for an international summit on nuclear energy summit.
On Tuesday, he attended a prayer service at Boston’s Old North Church and visited the Rose Kennedy Greenway to lay a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial. Sargsyan also plans to speak at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and visit the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
Last year, Armenia commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, in which a government of Young Turks murdered 1.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Due to opposition by Turkey, the U.S. government has not formally recognized the Armenian genocide as genocide.
Asked whether he believes the murder of the Armenians was genocide, Baker said yes. Baker said he participated in commemorations of the genocide last year. “I’ve been disappointed that the U.S. government hasn’t done so and recognized it as well,” Baker said. “It seems to me that the information on this one’s pretty clear at this point.”
Baker said he talked to Sargsyan about the importance of Massachusetts’ Armenian population, including, Baker said, “how many really interesting people there are and how many different ways they’ve played a role in our growth as a culture and as a commonwealth.”
“It’s a big chance for him to celebrate the fact that so many of his countrymen and women have chosen to settle and build their life here in the commonwealth, and I think that’s a good thing,” Baker said.
Baker added, “To have a chance to greet him and basically say how much we appreciate the role his community has played in our community was a great opportunity for us.”
Warren Tolman, a former state representative and senator from Watertown, said the Armenian community in Watertown “is abuzz and excited from the kids to the older folks” about the president’s visit.
