February 22, 2016

Memorializing the Armenian Genocide of 1915 through 1923 and Proclaiming April 24 as a Day of Remembrance. Whereas, In what is currently the Republic of Turkey and the country of Armenia, from 1915 through 1923 one and one-half million ethnic Armenian men, women and children were murdered and one-half million were displaced or deported as a result of oppression and ethnic cleansing by the Ottoman Empire; and

Whereas, Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were forced to flee their homes and travel to foreign counties in order to avoid persecution and death; and

Whereas, Hundreds of thousands of Armenian men, women and children were forced to walk through the Syrian Desert, where many died through dehydration and starvation; and

Whereas, The atrocities committed against the Armenian people have been viewed as an attempt to eliminate all traces of the Armenian civilization, dating more than 3,000 years old; and

Whereas, Prior to the implementation of the Holocaust, in order to garner support from his followers, Adolf Hitler asked “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”; and

Whereas, By recognizing and consistently remembering the Armenian Genocide the education of future generations for the protection of cultural and ethnic history is ensured so that these atrocities do not occur again; and

Whereas, The genocide has been recognized by forty-four of the United States and twenty-seven countries, including: Germany, Russia, Canada, France, Italy and Switzerland; and

Whereas, Armenia is now a free and independent democratic state, following nearly 70 years of oppression under the Soviet Union in the twentieth century; and

Whereas, The Republic of Turkey continues to deny and distort the facts of the Armenian Genocide and reveres the perpetrators as national heroes; and

Whereas, Armenian-Americans living in West Virginia have greatly enriched the State through their leadership in business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts; therefore, be it Resolved by the Hose of Delegates:

That the West Virginia House of Delegates acknowledges the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire as an issue of historical and cultural significance; and, be it

Further Resolved, That April 24, 2016, be proclaimed a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Armenian Genocide on the 101st Anniversary of the tragedy; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward copies of this resolution to the Ambassador to the United States of America from Armenia and the Armenian National Institute.