April 27, 1990

PROCLAMATION

STATE OF FLORIDA

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

TALLAHASSE

WHEREAS, Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a nation; and

WHEREAS, during the following centuries, Armenians were continuously harassed, tortured and often murdered by their non-Christian neighbors; and

WHEREAS, Armenia was ultimately partitioned among conquering enemies who wished to extinguish Christianity in its cradle; and

WHEREAS, the occasional and limited murder of the Armenians living under Turkish occupation finally culminated in the mass deportation and decimation of 1,500,000 Armenians; and

WHEREAS, on April 24, 1915, the Turks wiped out two-thirds of all Armenians residing in Turkey; and

WHEREAS, April 24, 1990, marked the 75th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and Armenians all over the world will observe the memory of their innocent martyrs of 1915;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Bob Martinez, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Florida, do hereby proclaim April 29, 1990, as

ARMENIAN MARTYRS' DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

in Florida.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed at Tallahassee, the Capital, this 27th day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety.

(SIGNED)
Bob Martinez
GOVERNOR

ATTEST:

(SIGNED)
Jim Smith
SECRETARY OF STATE