Delaware Armenian Genocide Recognition

SPONSOR: Rep. Kowalko
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
144th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 14

A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING APRIL 24 AS A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

WHEREAS, 1,500,000 men, women, and children of Armenian descent were victims of the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and thereafter; and

WHEREAS, the United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., stated, “Whatever crimes the most perverted instincts of the human mind can devise, and whatever refinement of persecutions and injustice the most debased imagination can conceive, became the daily misfortunes of these ‘devoted people.'”; and

WHEREAS, the killing of the Armenian people was accomplished by the systematic destruction of churches, schools, libraries, treasures of art, and cultural monuments in an attempt to eliminate all traces of a noble civilization with a history of more than 3,000 years; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian genocide has been acknowledged by other countries and international bodies; and

WHEREAS, each year Armenians throughout the world honor those who perished from 1915 to 1923, and all the world’s people should commemorate the Armenian genocide because it stands as an ugly testament to man’s inhumanity to man; and

WHEREAS, it is essential to raise awareness about this undeniable chapter of world history, as this will further our understanding of the need to eliminate hatred from our own communities; and

WHEREAS, Armenian Americans living in Delaware have greatly enriched this State in business, communications and the arts;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

That April 24 is proclaimed as a day of remembrance of the Armenian genocide; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State shall forward copies of this resolution to the President of the United States and the members of the Delaware Congressional delegation.

DESIGNATING APRIL 24, 1995 AS A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF “MAN’S INHUMANITY TO MAN” FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915-1923.
Delaware State Senate 138th General Assembly
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 19
April 11, 1995

WHEREAS, 1,500,000 people of Armenian ancestry were victims of the Genocide perpetrated by the governments of the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923, and;

WHEREAS, at the outbreak of World War I, the “Young Turks” regime ordered the entire Armenian population of about 1,750,000 deported to Syria and Mesopotamia, and;

WHEREAS, the plan for Genocide consisted of deporting all Armenians of whatever age or health to the totally-barren Der-El-Zor region of what is now Syria and Mesopotamia, and;

WHEREAS, the Armenians were deported to Der-El-Zor on foot, a death march in which more than one million people died of starvation or were killed, and;

WHEREAS, Armenians were rounded up and brutally driven from their ancestral homes and land, separated from their families, robbed of everything they owned and stripped of everything they carried with them, and;

WHEREAS, thousands of Orthodox Christian Armenians were tortured and murdered for refusing to accept Islam as their religion, and;

WHEREAS, the atrocities inflicted on Armenians held in concentration camps and on the death march to Der-El-Zor in the Syrian desert resemble those of the Holocaust of World War II, and;

WHEREAS, the massacre of Armenians who escaped deportation and remained in Turkey was called the “most colossal crime of all ages” by the examining military mission’s report to the U.S. congress, and;

WHEREAS, in a telegram sent by then- U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau to the U.S. Secretary of State, Ambassador Morgenthau warned that a “campaign of race extermination is in progress under the pretext of reprisal against rebellion”;

NOW THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the 138th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the House of Representatives thereof concurring therein, that we proclaim April 24, 1995 a Day of Remembrance of “Man’s Inhumanity to Man” on the 80th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the people of the State of Delaware to observe that day by remembering the 1,500,000 people of Armenian ancestry who lost their lives in the Genocide of 1915-1923.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, upon its enactment, suitable copies of this Resolution be forwarded to the Armenian National Committee and the United Hellenic American Action Societies of Delaware.

Sponsor: Sen. McDowell; Sen. Marshall; Reps. Dipinto and Jonkiert

SPONSOR:  Sen. Lopez & Rep. Schwartzkopf
DELAWARE STATE SENATE
148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15
A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

WHEREAS, during the Armenian  Genocide of 1915-1923, one million  five hundred thousand  men, women, and children of Armenian descent, and hundreds of thousands of Assyrian and Greek descent, lost their lives at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in its attempt to systematically eliminate the Armenian  race , while hundreds  of thousands  had become homeless and stateless refugees, and;

WHEREAS, April 24, 1915, is globally observed as the commencement of the Armenian Genocide, and;

WHEREAS, By 1923, these crimes against humanity not only resulted in the killing of unprecedented numbers of innocent peoples, but also had the consequence of permanently removing  all traces of the Christian Armenians  and other targeted peoples from their historic homelands of more than three millennia, and enriching the perpetrators  with the  lands and other property of the victims of these crimes, including the usurpation of several thousand churches, and;

WHEREAS, by  consistently  remembering   and  forcefully  condemning  the  atrocities  committed  against  the Armenians, and honoring the survivors as well as other victims of similar heinous conduct, we guard against repetition  of such acts of genocide and provide the American public with a greater understanding of history, and;

WHEREAS,  the United States is on record  as having officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in the  United States government’s May 28, 1951, written statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the Reservations  to the Convention on the Prevention  and Punishment  of the Crime of Genocide,  through  President  Ronald  Reagan’s  April 22, 1981, Proclamation 4838, and by Congressional  legislation including House of Representatives  Joint Resolution 148 adopted on April 8, 1975, and House of Representatives Joint Resolution 247 adopted on September 10, 1984, and;

WHEREAS, even prior to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the United States has a  record  of  having  sought  to justly  and  constructively  address  the  consequences  of  the  Ottoman Empire’s intentional destruction of the Armenian people, including through Concurrent Resolution 12 adopted on February 9, 1916, Resolution 359 adopted on May  11,  1920, and President Woodrow  Wilson’s November  22,  1920, decision  entitled, “The Frontier between Armenia and Turkey”, and;

WHEREAS, in response to the Genocide and at the behest  of the President    Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. State Department, the Near East Relief organization  was founded and was provided  unprecedented  complete access to all  S. government documents and files concerning the plight of Christian minorities, and;

WHEREAS, Near East Relief s efforts, with the active participation  of the First State, resulted in delivering    117 million dollars  of assistance  between  1915 and  1930, including  the delivery  of  food, clothing,  and materials for shelter, setting up refugee camps, clinics, hospitals, and orphanages, and;

WHEREAS, the generous philanthropy  of the American people directly resulted in the salvation of the   Christian Armenian and Assyrian  refugees  nation  from being  completely  annihilated  by  the  Genocide  by  saving more  than one million refugees, including more than one hundred thirty thousand orphans through their humanitarian assistance, and;

WHEREAS, Delaware is home  to a small, but  vibrant Armenian-American  community  who have enriched our state through their leadership and contribution in business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts, and;

WHEREAS, Armenians in Delaware, and throughout the world, have not been provided with justice for the crimes perpetrated against the Armenian nation despite the fact that a century has passed since the crimes were first committed, but remains resolved and their spirit continues to thrive a century after their near annihilation; now, therefore; and;

WHEREAS, April  24, 2015, will mark the centennial anniversary since the commencement of the Armenian Genocide;

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the 148th General Assembly of the  State of Delaware, the House concurring therein, that:

The Delaware General Assembly hereby designates the year of 2015, as “Delaware Year of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.”

2. This resolution recognizes  the  100th anniversary  of the Armenian Genocide  and  acknowledges  the   criminal mistreatment of the Christian Armenians, Assyrians,  and Greeks by the government    of the Ottoman Turkish Empire as an issue of international and historic significance that requires a resolution based on truth and

The Delaware  General  Assembly  urges  the Republic  of  Turkey  to  acknowledge  the facts  of the Armenian Genocide and to work toward a just

The Delaware General Assembly  shall call upon  the citizens of the State of Delaware  to recognize  the   100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and honor the memory of the 1.5 million people who died as a

The Delaware General Assembly respectfully calls upon the Congress and the President of the United States to act likewise and to formally and consistently recognize and reaffirm the historical truth that the atrocities committed against the Armenian people constituted

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitably prepared copy be mailed to The Armenian Prelacy of New

SYNOPSIS

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

August 23, 2007
Sponsor: Council Member Samuel Prado

Whereas, the City Council of Wilmington, Delaware is appreciative of organizations and individuals who foster public awareness in support of freedom and unity, and;

Whereas,   the ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA (ANCA), A dynamic and influential Armenian American grassroots political organization, further educates Americans about important Armenian issues such as the struggle to protect the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, the protection of the surviving Armenians still residing in Turkey, Turkey’s economic blockade of Armenia, and the continued denial  of the Armenian genocide, and;

Whereas, millions of Christian Armenians were systematically massacred, while their relatives  were  forced  to  witness  the  slaughter  and  the  loss  of  their ancestral homeland and property, and the forced deportations of countless others, representing the first case of genocide of the 20th century, and;

Whereas, the Citizens of Wilmington join with Armenian Americans in collective remembrance and desire to ensure that similar crimes against humanity are prevented in the future.

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved By The Council Of The City Of Wilmington, that Council  recognizes  the great work  of the Armenian National Committee of America in promoting a prosperous and  a  free Armenia, their work on behalf of Armenian American issues, and most importantly, for their continued struggle to have the Armenian  genocide recognized by the Turkish Republic.

Signed By :

City Clerk
Assistant City Solicitor