April 20-27, Days of Genocide Remembrance in California

PanArmenian reports that the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has declared April 20-27 as days of remembrance for the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The news item carries the text of the declaration.

Every April, we take time to commemorate the lives of those forever devastated by the Armenian Genocide. Between 1915 and 1923, more than one million Armenians were killed in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and countless more lost everything they owned. Intellects and store owners, children and seniors, men and women, people from all walks of life were victims of these horrific acts. Often listed as the first genocide of the twentieth century, these events had a life-altering impact on many, and stimulated an Armenian Diaspora.

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I ask all Californians to take time this week to reflect on this tragedy and its consequences. In joining our friends in the Armenian-American community in this observance, all of California helps remember the lives that were lost or changed by these fateful events.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim April 20-27, 2008, as “Days of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.

Photo: Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2005