March 27, 2001

Proclamation

To all Whom these Presents Come - Greetings:

WHEREAS, the death of at least 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks and the forced deportation of countless others, is remembered on April 24th as Armenian Martyrs Day; and

WHEREAS, eighty-six years ago, Armenians were forced to witness the slaughter of their relatives and the loss of their ancestral homeland; and

WHEREAS, the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the present-day Turkish Government continues to antagonize the Armenian people concerning their own rightful place in history; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian people have not received reparations for their losses; and

WHEREAS, Armenians have valiantly pursued the improvement and self-determination of their homelands; and

WHEREAS, notwithstanding such atrocities in the past people of Armenian descent have been strong, productive, contributing citizens in the many communities in which they reside in the State of Arkansas; and

WHEREAS, on April 24, 2001, Armenian families from across Arkansas will gather to honor the 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred under the Ottoman Turkish Government between 1915 and 1923;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mike Huckabee, acting under the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Arkansas, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2001, as

A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

in the State of Arkansas.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 27th day of March, in the year of our Lord 2001.

[signed]
Mike Huckabee, Governor

[signed]