Indiana Armenian Genocide Recognition

INDIANA’S GOV. WHITCOMB SETS APRIL 24-30 AS ‘MARTYRS WEEK‘

WHEREAS, April 24, 1915 commemorates the forceful deportation of two and one half million Armenians and the deliberate and planned genocide of the Armenians by the Turks, and;

WHEREAS, more than one and one half million Armenians were so massacred and murdered by the Turkish government plan and decree, and;

WHEREAS, this martyrdom, brought about by the Armenian adherence to Christianity and their general cultural and educational advancement and accomplishment made the Armenians to become the first nation in the 20th century to be the victims of genocide, and;

WHEREAS, American citizens of Armenian descent join other Armenians scattered throughout the world in observing and commemorating the 57th anniversary of those massacres paying tribute to the memory of those who have their lives in the cause of religious and political freedom, and;

WHEREAS, we as Americans have always cherished the rights of human beings to be free and have the blessings of liberty guaranteed to us under our Bill of Rights and the Constitution:

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, Edgar D. Whitcomb, Governor of the State of Indiana, do hereby proclaim the period of April 24-30, 1972 as

ARMENIAN MARTYRS WEEK

in Indiana and commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Armenian mas-sacres by the Turks and ask all of our citizens to join with me in prayer giving moral support to the just cause of the Armenian people.

As Printed in the Armenian Weekly, May 4, 1971

Executive Order by the Executive Department 
Indianapolis
November 1, 2017
PROCLAMATION

To All To Whom There Presents May Come, Greetings:

WHEREAS, from 1915-1923 during the Armenian Genocide, one and one-half million ethnic Armenian men, women and children as well as over one million Greeks, Assyrians, Syriacs and others were massacred as part of the planned complete eradication of those indigenous communities by the Ottoman Turkish Empire during the first modern genocide that still requires justice, and;

WHEREAS, the Hoosier State was a staunch supporter of Near East Relief (NER), the American-led campaign to help rescue victims of the Armenian Genocide from 1915 to 1930, and;

WHEREAS, other cases of genocide include the Holocaust, killings in Cambodia in 1975, the massacres in Bosnia in 1992, the slaughter in Rwanda in 1994 and now in the 21st century, the displacements and deaths in Darfur as well as targeting of religious minorities by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Middle East, and;

WHEREAS, by recognizing and consistently remembering, and educating about the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and all cases of past and ongoing genocide, we help protect historic memory, ensure that similar atrocities do not occur again and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution, and tyranny;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Eric J. Holcomb, Governor of the State of Indiana, do hereby proclaim November 6th-12th, 2017 as

ARMENIA AWARENESS WEEK

in the State of Indiana, and invite all citizens to duly note this occasion.

In Testimony Whereof, Thereto
set my hand and cause to be affixed the
Great Seal of State. Done at the
City of Indianapolis, this 1st
day of November the year of our
Lord 2017 and of the Independence
of the United States 242.

BY THE GOVERNOR: (SIGNED)