HomeMy WebLinkAboutS Proclamation Proclamation for Armenian Martyrs Day10�,G '47/_17 -0 /
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 24t' as ARMENIAN MARTYRS
DAY, in recognition and remembrance of those who died during the Armenian genocide;
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 April 24`x',
2001 as Armenian Martyrs Day and commend this observance to all Orange County citizens.
THIS THE 17TH DAY OF APRIL, 2001.
Stephen H. Halkiotis, Chair
Board Of County Commissioners