PRINTER'S NO. 795
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
89
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY LEACH, APRIL 21, 2015
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, APRIL 21, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Designating April 24, 2015, as "Pennsylvania's Day of
Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923."
WHEREAS, The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian
Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, traditionally by
Armenians, as Medz Yeghern, which is translated as "Great
Crime," was the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of
its minority Armenian subjects from their historic homeland
within the territory constituting the present-day Republic of
Turkey; and
WHEREAS, The starting date of the genocide is conventionally
held to be April 24, 1915, the day Ottoman authorities rounded
up and arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community
leaders in Constantinople; and
WHEREAS, The genocide was carried out between 1915 and 1923
in two phases resulting in an estimated 1.5 million victims; and
WHEREAS, The Armenian genocide and massacres of the Armenian
people have been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all
traces of a thriving and noble civilization more than 3,000
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years old; and
WHEREAS, By consistently remembering and openly condemning
the atrocities committed against the Armenians, Pennsylvanians
affirm the need for constant vigilance to prevent similar
atrocities in the future; and
WHEREAS, The Armenian people have not received reparations
for their losses; and
WHEREAS, Recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide and education about past horrors is crucial to ensuring
against future genocide; and
WHEREAS, Armenia is now a free and independent republic,
having embraced democracy following nearly 70 years of
oppressive Soviet domination; and
WHEREAS, Armenian Americans living in Pennsylvania have
greatly enriched this Commonwealth through their leadership in
business, agriculture, academia, government and the arts;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate designate April 24, 2015, as
"Pennsylvania's Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923."
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