HomeMy WebLinkAboutS Proclamation Armenian Martyrs Day - April 24, 2003THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A PROCLAMATION
for
ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY
WHEREAS, between 1915-1923, the extermination of more than one and one-half million
Armenians and the deportation of countless other Armenians took place by the Ottoman
Turks; and
WHEREAS, during this atrocity, Armenians were forced to witness the slaughter of their
relatives and the loss of their ancestral homelands; and
WHEREAS, Armenians assert that the government of modern-day Turkey refuses to
recognize the facts of genocide; and
WHEREAS, the denial of the Armenian genocide by the present day Turkish government
serves to taint the history and disavows Armenians of the right to their homelands and
heritage; and
WHEREAS, ancestral Armenian lands taken by the Ottoman Turks have not been returned
to the Armenian people, nor have the Armenians received compensation for their losses; and
WHEREAS, Armenians traditionally designated April 24`~ as ARMENIAN MARTYRS
DAY, in recognition and remembrance of those who died during the Armenian genocide; and
WHEREAS, Orange County finds it equally important to remember the atrocities committed
against others in the name or religious, racial and ethnic cleansing so that we do not forget the
inevitable outcome of our daily intolerances; and
WHEREAS, it is important to remember history so that mistakes of the past are not repeated
for future generations;
NOW, THEREFORE, do we, the Commissioners of Orange County, proclaim Apri124,
2003 as Armenian Martyrs Day and commend this observance to all Orange County citizens.
THIS THE 15TH DAY OF APRIL, 2003.
Margaret Brown, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners