April 3, 1990

CITY OF WAUKEGAN

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, during the period leading to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman leaders promulgated anti-Armenian policies, including the mass deportations of Armenians; and

WHEREAS, these policies resulted in the systematic annihilation, through massacres, disease and starvation, of a large segment of the Armenian population; and

WHEREAS, over 1.5 million men, women and children of Armenian ancestry were victims of the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during the years 1915 through 1923; and

WHEREAS, The Armenians have historical roots and a national identity dating back over three thousand years in what is now eastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and the south-central Soviet Union; and

WHEREAS, Armenians have a distinctive linguistic and religious heritage within the Christian tradition.

NOW THERFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council of the City of Waukegan do hereby proclaim April 24, 1990 as a day of remembrance for the victims of the Armenian genocide, and in their memory this date is commemorated by all Armenian-Americans and their friends throughout the City of Waukegan and its environs.

DATED THIS 3RD DAY OF APRIL, 1990.

(SIGNED)
Haig Paravonian
MAYOR

ATTEST:

(SIGNED)
William Durkin
CITY CLERK