Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Lt. Gov. Newsom Issues Proclamation on Genocide Anniversary

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Lt. Gov. Newsom Issues Proclamation on Genocide Anniversary

    Lt. Gov. Newsom Issues Proclamation on Genocide Anniversary

    asbarez
    Friday, April 27th, 2012

    Lieutenan Governor Gavin Newsom
    SACRAMENTO - Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation on
    the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Below is the text of
    that document:

    WHEREAS, April 24, 1915, marked the beginning of the Armenian Genocide
    which resulted in the death of over two million Armenians as well as
    Greeks and Assyrians between 1915 and 1923; and

    WHEREAS, nearly half million Armenians who survived the horrors of
    extermination were expelled from their homes and forced to settle in
    various countries throughout the world; and

    WHEREAS, the Armenian Genocide is one of the first modern genocides
    which resulted in the near annihilation of a people and the
    dispossession of the survivors from their cultural homeland and
    heritage; and

    WHEREAS, the Republic of Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman
    Empire under which the Genocide was committed, unjustifiably and
    adamantly denies the occurrence of this crime against humanity while
    actively continuing to remove traces of Armenian existence. This
    includes the neglect and intentional destruction of the thousands of
    remaining churches throughout the Armenian Highlands which make up
    today's eastern Turkey; and

    WHEREAS, the International Association of Genocide Scholars has
    repeatedly affirmed that the massacres of Armenians initiated in 1915
    constitutes genocide; and

    WHEREAS, throughout the 20th Century the Armenian Genocide was
    followed by several other genocides and this pattern continues to this
    day as seen in the Darfur region of Sudan. If we fail to remember the
    lessons of the past and remain silent in deference to a campaign of
    denial we embolden current and future perpetrators of genocide; and

    WHEREAS, many survivors of the Genocide settled in states around the
    country, including California. California has become home to the
    largest population of Armenians in the United States and those
    citizens have enriched our state through leadership in the fields of
    academia, medicine, business, agriculture, government, and the arts
    and are proud and patriotic practitioners of American citizenship; and

    NOW, THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Lieutenant Governor of the State of
    California, do hereby join Californians and the Armenian American
    Community in commemorating the 97th Anniversary of the Armenian
    Genocide.


    From: Baghdasarian
Working...
X