HomeMy WebLinkAboutS Proclamation - Proclamation Recognizing Armenian Martyrs Day and Similar Atrocities THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A PROCLAMATION
for
ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY
IN REMEMBRANCE OF ATROCITIES OF THE 201h CENTURY
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
WHERAS, 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
WHERAS, 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
WHERAS,Armenians traditionally designated April 24'x' as ARMENIAN MARTYRS
DAY, in recognition and remembrance of those who died during the Armenian genocide;
and
WHERAS, 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
WHERAS, 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 April 24"',
2002 as Armenian Martyrs Day and commend this observance to all Orange County citizens
in remembrance of the atrocities of the 20'century.
THIS THE 16TH DAY OF APRIL, 2002.
Barry Jac V
Orange my o Commissioner