PRINTER'S NO. 1577
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
271
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY CAPPELLETTI, KANE, FONTANA, PHILLIPS-HILL, STREET,
HUTCHINSON, COSTA AND MASTRIANO, APRIL 11, 2022
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, APRIL 11, 2022
A RESOLUTION
Designating April 24, 2022, as "Pennsylvania's Day of
Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923."
WHEREAS, April 24, 1915, is internationally known as the
start of the Armenian Genocide during which more than 1.5
million Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered or
marched to their death in an effort to annihilate the Armenian
nation in the first genocide of modern times; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of surviving Armenian women and children
were forcibly converted and Islamized and hundreds of thousands
more were subjected to ethnic cleansing during the period of the
modern Republic of Turkey from 1924 to 1937; and
WHEREAS, These crimes against humanity also had the
consequence of permanently removing all traces of the Armenians
and other targeted people from their historic homelands of more
than four millennium; and
WHEREAS, This led to the enrichment of the perpetrators with
the lands and other property of the victims, including the
usurpation of several thousand churches; and
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WHEREAS, With strength and resilience the Armenian people
survived and rebuilt their community and, over the decades,
Armenian immigrants have enriched the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania and the United States in countless ways; and
WHEREAS, Each individual should be educated about the
Armenian Genocide and other crimes against humanity, as
acknowledging history is the first step toward not repeating it;
and
WHEREAS, Unlike other people and governments that have
admitted and denounced the abuses and crimes of predecessor
regimes, the Republic of Turkey has denied the occurrence of
these crimes against humanity committed by the Ottoman and Young
Turk rulers for many years; and
WHEREAS, The denial compounds the grief of the remaining
survivors and deprives Armenians in Pennsylvania and throughout
the world from justice for the crimes perpetrated against the
Armenian nation even though over a century has passed since the
crimes were first committed; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania declared in 1965
that April 24 of each year will serve as a day of remembrance of
the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is proud to join
the Armenian-American community of Pennsylvania in the
commemoration of the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
in an effort to educate others about the tragic loss of life,
land and human rights of the Armenian people and the crimes of
genocide committed against them, as well as Greeks and
Assyrians, due to religious and political beliefs; therefore be
it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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designate April 24, 2022, as "Pennsylvania's Day of Remembrance
of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923" in memory of the victims
of the Armenian Genocide and in honor of the survivors and their
descendants; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
urge all residents of Pennsylvania to join in this solemn
remembrance; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
affirm the right of Christians and all the citizens of the
Artsakh Republic to practice their faith in freedom and without
fear of foreign aggression; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
recognize the right to self-determination and independence of
the Artsakh Republic and respectfully urge the President and
Congress of the United States of America to do the same; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
member of Congress of Pennsylvania.
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