April 23, 1981

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 51-
Relative to proclaiming April 24th as State Day of Remembrance

(Filed with Secretary of State April 23, 1981.)

WHEREAS, The State of California has repeatedly gone on record in support of human rights around the world; and

WHEREAS, The genocide of Armenians in Turkey is a well documented fact, with 1,500,00 Armenians massacred during the years 1915-1918 alone; and

WHEREAS, This genocide has been consistently denied by the Turkish government; and

WHEREAS, The Armenians in some countries must continue to endure daily acts of oppression, including denial of their basic human rights, confiscation of their churches and schools, and punishment for speaking their native language openly; and

WHEREAS, April 24, 1915, is the date historians have marked as the beginning of the massacre, and each April 24 thereafter should be a day of reflection by all Armenians and other Americans; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby requests the Governor of California to issue a proclamation designating April 24, 1981, and each April 24th thereafter as State Day of Remembrance and to call upon the people of the State of California to observe this day as a day of remembrance for all victims of genocide, especially those of Armenian ancestry who succumbed to the genocide perpetrated in 1915, and in whose memory this date is commemorated by all Armenians and their friends throughout the world.