Idaho Armenian Genocide Recognition

Idaho legislators have recognized the Armenian Genocide on the state and local level. Gubernatorial proclamations as well as state and local legislation are provided below since 2004. If you know of other documents to be added to this list – old or new – please send a note to elizabeth@anca.org. We look forward to showcasing them.

Idaho citizens also played an active role in assisting Armenian Genocide survivors through the Congressionally mandated Near East Foundation, during the years 1915 – 1930. Learn more about their efforts below, through research prepared by the ANCA Western Region’s “America We Thank You” program.

And finally, review our snapshot of news coverage of the Armenian Genocide in Idaho press, as we spotlight three articles, prepared as part of the ANCA’s “Genocide Diary” project. Check back to the Genocide Diary’s Idaho page for new articles added on a monthly basis.

2004

April 20, 2004

WHEREAS, one and one-half-million Christian Armenian men, women, and children were the victims of a brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915 to 1923; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian genocide and massacres of Armenian people have been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a thriving and noble civilization over 3,000 years old; and

WHEREAS, recognition of the eighty-ninth anniversary of this genocide is crucial to guarding against the repetition of future genocide and educating people about the atrocities connected to these horrific events; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Idaho have greatly enriched our state through their leadership in business, agriculture, academia, government and the arts;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Governor of the State of Idaho, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2004, to be IDAHO DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915-1923

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Idaho at the Capitol in Boise on this twentieth day of April in the year of our Lord two-thousand and four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred twenty-eighth and of the Statehood of Idaho the one hundred fourteenth.

DIRK KEMPTHORNE GOVERNOR
BEN YSURSA SECRETARY OF STATE

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Idaho Municipal

2015
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2015

Office of the Mayor

City of Twin Falls, Idaho

Proclamation

“TWIN FALLS ARMENIAN MEMORIAL MONTH”

100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

March 30, 2015

WHEREAS, The Armenian People have been part of a thriving and noble civilization that is over 3,000 years old, and;

WHEREAS, the Armenian history, including the tragic loss of life and displacement of Armenians that occurred in the final years of the Ottoman-Turkish Empire, has not been widely understood by our citizens, and;

WHEREAS, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government of Azerbaijan created a political and social situation that did not tolerate the Karabakh Armenians living in their historic homeland, and;

WHEREAS, Sumgait Pogroms in 1983 and the Baku anti-Armenian riots in 1990 resulted in hundreds of Armenian deaths and the mass deportation of 350,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan, 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 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, through President Ronald Reagan’s April 22, 1931, Proclamation No. 4836, and by Congressional legislation, including House Joint Resolution 148 adopted on April 8, 1975, and House Joint Resolution 247 adopted on September 10, 1934, and;

WHEREAS, Twin Falls has become the home to many of the Armenian refugees and immigrants who have resettled in Twin Falls after falling victim to Azerbaijan’s conflicts of 1938-1990, and;

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Twin Falls, Idaho, have greatly enriched our city and state through their contributions as citizens, business leaders, agriculture, academia, government and the arts, and;

WHEREAS, recognition and remembrance of the history of the Armenian people is crucial to guarding against future discrimination and bigotry, and;

THEREFORE, I, Don Hall, Mayor of the City of Twin Falls, due hereby join the Twin Falls Armenian-American Community and their Twin Falls citizen supporters, by proclaiming April, 2015, as

“TWIN FALLS ARMENIAN MEMORIAL MONTH” in memory of the 100th year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and those who suffered under the final years of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Azerbaijan persecutions.

Furthermore, I encourage each citizen to take the time to learn more about the history of one of the newest cultures and the persecutions they endured. The persecutions which forced their exodus from Azerbaijan to become part of the powerful cultural diversity of Twin Falls.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my

hand and caused this seal to be affixed.

Mayor Don Hall

Attest: Deputy City Clerk Leila A. Sanchez

Dated: March 30, 2015

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Idaho’s Support for Survivors of the Armenian Genocide

Idaho was an integral supporter of Near East Relief (NER), the American-led campaign that quickly sparked an international response with its unprecedented humanitarian endeavor, mobilizing all segments of American citizenry including elected officials, celebrities and laypersons alike, to help rescue victims of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey from 1915-1930.

Idaho facilitated its relief efforts from neighboring Washington’s NER office located at the Peyton Building in Spokane and the Burke Building in Seattle.

In May of 1921, Idaho’s Pullman Herald published an appeal to its citizens to “cast off clothes and shoes for the nearly naked and half- starved refugees, men, women and children of Armenia and other impoverished war-torn countries of Asia minor.”

Read the complete fact sheet prepared by America We Thank You.