New York Armenian Genocide Recognition

PROCLAMATION
State of New York Executive Chamber
April 21, 1987

On April 24, 1915, some 300 Armenian religious leaders, intellectuals and notables were arrested in Constantinople and systematically murdered. This marked the beginning for the deportation and massacres of one and one-half million Armenians then living in the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Today Armenians throughout the world are commemorating one of the darkest hours of Armenian history – the 72nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

New Yorkers join our fellow citizens of Armenian heritage in marking this observance and in recalling the terrible events of 1915 in the hope that the conscience of the world can bring an end to all human suffering and a reawakening of the sense of justice.

It is fitting that we also pay tribute to the survivors of the Armenian tragedy, especially those who have made their homes in this State and Nation. The regeneration of Armenian life throughout the world and the may social, cultural, economic and religious contributions of the Armenian community are testimony to a people’s spirit and courage.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mario M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 1987, as

ARMENIAN MARTYRS’ DAY

in New York State.

GIVEN under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this twenty-first day of April in the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven.

(SIGNED)

Mario M. Cuomo, Secretary to the Governor

State Of New York

Executive Chamber

WHEREAS, the citizens of the Empire State have a longstanding tradition of acknowledging significant milestones and events of great importance in world history; therefore, they are proud to recognize activities that seek to honor the memory of those whose lives were taken during the twentieth century ‘ s first genocide; the Armenian Genocide of 1915- 1923; and

WHEREAS, the events that unfolded during those tragic years cost the lives of 1.5 mill ion Armenians who fell victim to rapid , government-sanctioned extermination at the hands of the Ottoman Empire; some of the most extreme examples of man ‘ s inhumanity were commonplace during this period of suffering; sadly , the outcry of officials, diplomats and  others  willing  to speak on behalf  of Armenians  failed  to garner the support needed  to end  their  hardship; and

WHEREAS, New York , a center of immigration and a State blessed by the presence of a large concentration of the Nation’s estimated one million Armenian Americans, provides a fitting venue for the many community events that seek to make known the occurrence of the Armenian Genocide and the burden carried by its aging survivors; the citizens of our State, mindful of this tragedy , support efforts that promote lessons that help our youth to be more tolerant of other cultures,  races,  religions  and  points of view; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting for all New Yorkers of good will to join Armenian Americans in their collective remembrance and desire to ensure that the crime of the Genocide is not buttressed , legitimized or forgotten ,  and  that  efforts to  advance and  further  healing  are to be  supported ;

NOW, THEREFORE , I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim official recognition  to  April  24,  1999 as

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

in the Empire State.

GOVERNOR 

State of New York

Executive Chamber

Proclamation

Whereas, the Empire State is home to many ethnic communities whose members benefit from the freedom and democracy upon which our Nation was founded; as a global leader in many areas of basic human and social rights, New York State has a prominent role in acknowledging events in history – many of them tragic and distressing – that teach valuable lessons from which our greater society benefits; be such event is the Armenian Genocide , during which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed; and

Whereas, Armenian immigration to New York State began in the 1830’s and continued into the early 1900’s with an influx of individuals and families hopeful of finding a new life; the were people with distinct language and culture who possessed solid character and were primarily of the Christian faith; many Armenians came to this country seeking freedom as the survivors of the 20^th century first genocide; and

Whereas, the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 was an organized campaign initiated by the Ottoman Turkish Government, which sought to deliberately exterminate Armenians by employing cruel and inhumane tactics; this documented mass killing contributed to modern society’s understanding and use of the term “genocide”; as it occurred, the attack on Armenian civilians was widely noticed but largely unchecked by the world community, and it was a foreshadowing of subsequent acts of human tragedy, such as the Holocaust; and

Whereas, the results of this large-scale catastrophe were profound for all Armenians, especially the loss of a great deal of their ancestral land; the population language and culture were near extinction and many Armenian people were separated and scattered to  various parts of the world; today the nation of Armenia – a proud democratic republic free of decades of Soviet influence and oppression – occupies only a small part of its original territory; and

Whereas, attempts to deny, rebut or downplay the details of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 are unwelcome to freedom-loving citizens who are guided and strengthened by truth; the crime of denial is a subsequent transgression against Armenian Genocide martyrs and survivors, and directly counteracts the effort to promote greater understanding of this event; it is believed by many that acknowledgment and awareness of this shameful event will not only teach future generations, but also will help mankind prevent such crimes from being repeated; this concept is particularly important as our State works to instill in youth, a universal respect for other cultures, races, religions and viewpoints; and

Whereas, during the 85^th anniversary of the onset of the Armenian Genocide, as the number of actual Genocide survivors diminishes with the passage of time, it is fitting that people worldwide join the Armenian-American community as it observes what is commonly referred to as Martyr’s Day; likewise, the people of New York State share in the solemn commemoration of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23, and join with the Armenian-American community and its many religious, communal and philanthropic organizations as they honor the sacrifices and memory of their noble ancestors;

Now, Therefore, I, George E Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2000 as

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

In the Empire State.

Given under my hand and Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this seventeenth day of April in the year two thousand.

Secretary of the Governor
Governor

PROCLAMATION
STATE OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER

WHEREAS, the Empire State is strengthened by its communities of people representing various ethnicities and faiths, who benefit from the freedom of democracy upon which our Nation was founded; as a global leader in many areas of basic human rights, New York State has a prominent role in acknowledging the longstanding institutions that teach valuable lessons from which our greater society benefits; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian Apostolic Church, was founded by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, is such an institution; this year marks the 1700th anniversary of the conversion of the Armenian King Drtad by St. Gregory the Illuminator in 301 A.D. and King Drtad’s subsequent declaration of Christianity as the official state religion of Armenia, making it the first nation to declare Christianity as the official state religion; and

WHEREAS, Armenia’s conversion led to the creation of the unique Armenian scripts by Saint Mesrob in 404 A.D., and the bestowal of exquisite ecclesiastical gifts upon the architectural heritage of the world, like those found at Ani and Aghtamar; the conversion also resulted in the manuscript illumination of masters such as Thoros Roslin and Momig, and impressive theologians such as Gregory of Nareg and Nerses of Lampron; and

WHEREAS, Armenians have paid a dear price for their faith, beginning in the fifth century, when they were led in a religious battle against the Persians by the great prince Vartan who died defending Christianity; today, the unbreakable spirit embodied by Saint Vartan prevails among Armenian Americans; their continuous struggle was witnessed in the martyrdom of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian Christians in the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, a tragedy which former President and New York Governor Theodor Roosevelt called “the greatest crime” of World War I; and

WHEREAS, Armenian Americans have constituted a vital part of New York life since the 1830’s; the first Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church in New York City was offered in 1889, and New York State is now home to one of the largest Armenian-American communities in the United States; all the people of New York State share in this noble commemoration and join with the Armenian-American community as it honors this defining event in their history;

Now, Therefore, I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim June 17, 2001 as

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH RECOGNITION DAY

in the Empire State.

Proclamation
State of New York Executive Chamber
April 22, 2002

WHEREAS, the Empire State is proud to be the place where countless citizens of the world have settled to become leaders in various areas of endeavor, mindful that the journey taken by many of these fine men and women did not always begin voluntarily or happily; many of New York and the Nation’s Armenian citizens who arrived in the early part of the last century came here as a result of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23, a tragic event that nearly ended the lives of all Armenians; and

WHEREAS, the time between most Armenians’ arrival up until their modern presence here has been notably fruitful for them and for the greater community of New York and America, but a sincere effort at acknowledging the circumstances of their bittersweet trek to our welcoming shores helps us understand and admire Armenians far better; a learned appreciation for their history will also teach people a sad lesson in man’s inhumanity to his fellow man, and the lengths to which neglect by the world community can cause the already- tragic taking of one life to multiply into a tremendously costly, genuine exercise in genocide; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 was an organized extermination campaign employed by the Ottoman Turkish authorities, under whose imperial authority most Armenians lived; agents of the Turkish Government who included military personnel and willing civilian volunteers utilized some of the cruelest methods ever used against people to wipe out Armenian men, women and children; those Armenians spared a quick and violent death by blade, bullet or beating were starved and dehydrated during exile marches that represent a different, unspeakable, type of journey for Armenians and also for Greeks and Assyrians, two other Christian minorities singled out by the Turks for their differences; and

WHEREAS, the final result of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 was the near extermination of the Armenian people, the loss of the majority of their ancestral lands and the dispersing into many areas of the world the scarred survivors of this extreme crime against people; today Armenians throughout their diaspora struggle to support their homeland, a shadow of a once-proud nation that was the first state-in 301 A.D. – ever to adopt Christianity as its official religion; every endeavor to preserve the rich language, cultural and religious traditions of Armenia must now be viewed as a step toward compensating for the damage done by the Genocide; few cultures save the Jews, who endured the Holocaust years after the Armenian Genocide, must carry such a burden; and

WHEREAS, denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 is an abomination that occupies no proper place in debates carried out by New Yorkers, who represent some of the most intellectual by also the most morally certain people anywhere; as the movement toward full recognition of the Genocide follows its steady pace, every human being wanting to be counted as an Armenian Genocide recognition supporter can be considered a citizen of New York or an honorary citizen of New York; that is, they will be a friendly neighbor among a growing but still cherished community of people who treasure the truth;

Now, Therefore, I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2002 as

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

in the Empire State.

Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this twenty-second day of April in the year two thousand and two.

(SIGNED)

George E. Pataki Governor

Proclamation
Albany, New York
April 18th, 2003

WHEREAS, the Empire State acknowledges events in history that have changed the course of the world and which have had a meaningful impact on our own Nation’s ethnic, cultural and religious landscape; as a global leader in basic human and social rights, our State and its citizens have a prominent role in highlighting humanitarian concerns and important lessons that can be derived from mankind’s past transgressions; and

WHEREAS, the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 marks a tragic episode that resulted  in the loss of an estimated  1.5 million  lives and nearly extinguished the entire Armenian  population;  this  campaign,  organized  by  the  ruling  Ottoman  authorities  under  whose imperial authority most Armenians lived, sought to deliberately exterminate  Armenians  by  employing  cruel  and  inhumane  tactics; as they occurred, the atrocities committed against Armenian civilians were widely noticed but unchecked  by  the  world  community;   and

WHEREAS, many of New York and the Nation’s Armenian citizens who arrived in the early 1900’s came here seeking freedom as survivors of the 20th century’s first genocide; from the arrival of the first Armenians to our shores, the community has been a fruitful and noteworthy presence, however, greater effort at acknowledging the circumstances of their bittersweet trek to this country can help us understand the Armenian community far better;   and

WHEREAS, the final result of the Armenian Genocide was the near extermination of the Armenian people, the loss of the majority of their ancestral lands, and the  dispersal  of  deeply  scarred  survivors  of  this  extreme  crime  against  people;  today  Armenians throughout their diaspora struggle to preserve the rich language, cultural and  religious  traditions  of  their  homeland  – a  proud democratic republic free of decades of Soviet influence and oppression, but which occupies only  a  small part  of its  original territory;   and

WHEREAS, denial of the Armenian Genocide is an injustice to the people of Armenia and their history; as progress for full recognition of the Genocide follows a  steady  pace  toward  global  realization,  every  human  being  who  acknowledges  this  historical fact is part  of  a growing community  of people  who  treasure  the truth  and  who  respect other  cultures,  religions and  races;  and

WHEREAS, during the 88th anniversary of the onset of the Armenian Genocide, as the number of actual survivors diminishes with the passage of time, it is fitting that people worldwide join the Armenian-American community as it observes what  is commonly referred to as Martyrs’ Day; likewise, the citizens of New York State share in the solemn commemoration of this  tragedy and join with many religious, communal and philanthropic organizations as they honor the sacrifices and memory of their noble Armenian ancestors;

Now, Therefore, I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2003 as

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

in the Empire State.
under  my  hand  and  the  Privy  Seal  of  the  State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this eighteenth day of April in the year two thousand three.

Proclamation
Albany, New York
September 16th, 2004

WHEREAS, the Empire State is proud to commemorate events whose discussion contributes to our understanding of world history while promoting tolerance for other races, religions and points of view; as a global leader in basic human and social rights, our State and its citizens have a prominent role in highlighting humanitarian concerns and teaching future generations the critical lessons that can be derived from mankind’s past transgressions  and the tragic consequences  of intolerance;  and

WHEREAS, the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 was a catastrophic event during which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman authorities under whose imperial rule most Armenians lived; alongside their Greek  and Assyrian  imperial  co­  subjects, and singled out for their ethnicity and Christian faith, Armenian men, woman and children met  their  end  in  mass  killings, organized  death  marches,  starvation  tactics  and  other brutal  methods  employed  against  civilians; and

WHEREAS, the 20th century’s first such calculated effort to destroy people on a massive scale, the Armenian Genocide led academics to coin and utilize the very term genocide and it is  believed  that,  had  the  Armenian  Genocide  been  stopped  through  diplomatic or interventionist means, the  resulting  precedent  for  peace  could  have  prevented  the  Holocaust  that  befell  the  Jewish people;   and

WHEREAS, the Armenian Genocide caused the bulk displacement of the Armenian people from their ancestral lands, the loss of two-thirds of the these lands and the orphaning of countless Armenian children; Armenians’ expulsion from their ancient territories was so extreme that almost every Armenian-American family can trace its immigration history from the Genocide, to the loving Christian missionaries in the Middle East that housed children, to the European continent and -finally -to the United States;   and

WHEREAS, New York proudly accepts leadership in acknowledging the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 with recognition that the number of survivors is dwindling and that their courageous testimonials have put a human face on the documentary, photographic and journalistic evidence that supports this very real crime against people; armed with this  evidence and with the memory  of the  elderly who experienced and witnessed its occurrence, the community rightfully seeks fullest recognition of the Genocide;  and

WHEREAS, it is fitting that all New Yorkers appreciate the hardships Armenians faced, if  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  preventing tragedies such as  the Armenian  Genocide  of  1915-23 from  recurring,  then  to  understand  better  how  the  United  State’s  role as a refuge  for all oppressed  peoples  has been  a noble  one;

Now, Therefore,  I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the  State of New York,  do hereby proclaim April 24, 2004   as

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

in the Empire State and offer the community hopes for success in educating the broader community during the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this sixteenth day of September in the year two thousand four.

Proclamation
Albany, New York
April 14th, 2005

WHEREAS, the Empire State is proud to be the  site of  activities  acknowledging  historical  milestones  which  are vital to our  understanding  of  humanity,  whether  the  events  are  joyous   celebrations   or  sorrowful  commemorations;   the   State   of   New York, a region born of immigrants that  is continuously blessed  by their presence  and  contributions,  stands to gain the most  from  appreciating the role past events played  in the  arrival of its newer  citizens  and  their permanent  resettlement  here;     and

WHEREAS, Armenian Americans are a valuable part of New York’s immigration landscape and success story, and in overwhelming  instances  their  modern  immigration  story  is  related  to  the  Armenian  Genocide  of  1915-23  perpetrated   against Armenians  by  the  Ottoman  authorities  under  whose  imperial  authority  most  Armenians   lived;   Armenian   men,   women   and  children were singled  out  for  their  ethnicity  and  Christian  faith  before  being  killed  through  some  of  the  most  inhumane  methods,  and  surviving Armenians,  after  being  expelled  from  their  ancestral  lands,  made  their  way  to  safe  havens  such  as America;      and

WHEREAS, the costs of the Genocide are severe and lasting, and include over 1.5 million Armenians killed, two-thirds  of Armenian lands seized, as well as the  incalculable  injury  to  Armenians  in  terms  of  the  loss  of  and  threats  to  identity,  culture,  language and political standing in the  region;  fewer  in  number  but  no  less  victimized  were  the  Greek  and  Assyrian  Orthodox Christians  who  also  endured   similar  ends  and  trials  as  a  result  of  these  organized  extermination-expulsion   campaigns;      and

WHEREAS, the denial of the  Armenian  Genocide  by  some  continues  to  be  a  source  of  frustration  and  dismay  to  Armenians  even  as  additional  forms  of  evidence  of  the  Genocide  are  discovered ,  and  such  recognition  would  work  positively toward   healing   among  advocates,  humanitarians,   clergy,  academics   and  families;     and

WHEREAS, this year marks the 90th  anniversary  of  the  Armenian  Genocide’s  onset,  and  Armenian  Americans  everywhere are  organizing  a  series  of  commemorative  events  held  in  remembrance  of  victims  and  to  honor   survivors,  who   due  to  their  age are  dwindling  in  number;  known  as  Martyrs  Day,  April  24th  is  the  community’s   official  unified  observance  of  the  Genocide,  and in  the  interest  of  truth  New  York  State  has  a  tradition  of  proclaiming  this  day; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting that on April 24th and throughout this year-long 90th anniversary observance, many more citizens of goodwill uphold their convention of sympathizing with  the  suffering  of  others  not  only  in  the  interest  of  seeking  justice  for  the  pained,  but  also  to  ensure  that  future  crimes  do  not  befall  other  victims;

Now, Therefore, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2005 as

ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY

in the Empire State in observance of one of history’s most tragic instances of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. under   my  hand  and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this fourteenth day of April in the year two thousand five.

PROCLAMATION
STATE OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER

WHEREAS, the Empire State is proud to be the site of efforts to recognize important historical milestones that enable New Yorker and Americans of diverse background to appreciate the context of our chiefly-immigrant population’s resettlement here; as a State whose people have gone well beyond simply learning from one another – to where they empathize with, assist and truly accept others – New York has a unique role in America’s promise to welcome the needy masses; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans are one group of immigrants whose history in their historic homeland cause them to see America as that great refuge for weary but determined pioneers on a quest for life renewed; the event most closely associated with Armenian’s existence as a mostly diasporic community worldwide and with their arrival on American shores is the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23; during this awful atrocity, 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children were killed by agents of the Ottoman Empire, under whose authority most Armenians lived; ample incontrovertible evidence – which helped scholars adopt the term “genocide” – reveals that the perpetrators of these crimes acted with stated intent, indeed were organized and used some of the cruelest methods ever employed against humankind; and

WHEREAS, the challenged Armenians face of the Genocide include not only dealing with the loss of life but also the confiscation of two thirds of the Armenians’ ancestral land and the near-destruction of the rich Armenian culture and language, following their forced expulsion from familiar territories, Armenians made their way to relief agencies in the Middle East, to Europe and in many instances, to the United States, here in New York, despite this tremendous setback for their people, Armenians have progressed to where they occupy positions of leadership in many areas of endeavor; and

WHEREAS, for Armenian-Americans, recognition of their genocide is the number one cause for young and old alike, and it is an issue which transcends other divergent views and persuasions Armenians may have; sadly, more often than ever, an insidious attempt to cover up details of the Genocide is in full swing in many areas of thought and learning; this occurs wherever Armenians – and even international scholars – exercise their free expression to tell the story; the cover-up and pressure to coerce individuals, legislatures and even global organizations to stop the use of the term “genocide” not only contradicts documented historical facts archived in places such as the United States Library of Congress, it is in the opinion of dwindling Genocide survivors another attack on their person; and

WHEREAS, just as New York has a proud legacy of responding to the plight of suffering peoples the world over, it has a wonderful record of involvement in ameliorating the suffering caused by the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23; much of the money raised to support efforts of organizations such as Near East Relief was collected here in New York; much of the raising of awareness on the issue of the Genocide during its occurrence is illustrated in the spoken words of President Theodore Roosevelt and then-Ambassador from the U.S. to Constantinople Henry Morgentlhau, and over 145 articles on the Armenian Genocide were printed in The New York Times in 1915 alone; it is fitting that all New Yorker stand in solidarity with custodians of truth by joining their Armenian-American neighbors in acknowledging the 91st anniversary of the onset of the Genocide;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2006 as Armenian Martyrs Day in the Empire State.

Proclamation
State of New York
Executive Chamber

WHEREAS, every year on April 24th, Armenians throughout the world commemorate Armenian Remembrance Day, pausing in solemn reflection on one of the darkest hours in Armenian history; and

WHEREAS, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the onset of this tragic event, when, on April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious leaders, intellectuals, and other notables were summarily rounded up and arrested in Constantinople, marking the beginning of an eight-year period of detention, deportation, and massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in what then was known as the Ottoman Empire; and

WHEREAS, the diaspora of Armenians throughout the world brought hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the shores of our state and nation, kindling a regeneration of Armenian life and culture throughout the world; today, the many contributions of the Armenian American community are testimony to its spirit and courage, and Armenian Americans are a crucial part of the rich

WHEREAS, we honor the memories of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and pay tribute to the survivors, especially those who have established roots in New York State, where new generations of Armenian Americans continue to thrive; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting that New Yorkers join with the Armenian American community in the marking this observance and in recalling the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, as we work towards a world free from human suffering;

Now, Therefore, I Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2015 as

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY in the Empire State.

Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol  in the City of Albany this sixteenth day of April in the year two thousand fifteen.

Secretary of the Governor
Governor

JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY memorializing Governor Hugh Carey to proclaim April twenty-four, nineteen hundred seventy-five as “Armenian Martyrs Day”
NEW YORK STATE
April 24, 1975

Whereas, From 1894 to 1918, 1,900,000 Armenians were massacred in an attempt to eliminate the race; and

Whereas, April twenty-fourth commemorates the sixtieth (60th) anniversary of the massacre of 1,500,000 Armenians by the Turks; and

Whereas, These massacres represented the culmination of over four centuries of persecution of the Armenians following the overthrow of the last Armenian dynasty; and

Whereas, The deaths of these Armenian martyrs lead to the creation of an independent Armenian state; and

Whereas, This independent Armenia was crushed by superior outside forces; and

Whereas, The independent Armenian nation for which these martyrs died was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union; and

Whereas, These martyrs give their lives for the cause of freedom; now, therefore, be it Resolved, The that the Legislature of the State of New York expresses its admiration for the

strength and independent spirit displayed by the Armenian people throughout their history; and be it further

Resolved, That Governor Hugh Carey is hereby respectfully memorialized to proclaim April twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred seventy-five as “Armenian Martyrs Day”.

STATE OF NEW YORK
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION SENATE NO. 810 BY Senators Weinstein and Marchi
May 6, 1986

DENOUNCING the Ottoman massacres of Armenians

WHEREAS, The Armenian Nation was founded around 700 B.C. by a tribe of Indo-Europeans who settled on a small pocket of land between Asia, Africa and Europe; a peaceful society, the Armenians developed their own language and culture over the centuries and became the first people to accept Christianity as their official religion shortly after 300 A.D.; and

WHEREAS, The land became a vital trade route between the East and West and was coveted by the Persians, the Medes, the Mongolians, the Russians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs; however, the Christian Armenians were able to peacefully coexist with invading Armies until the birth of the Ottoman Nation, when the Turks established dominion over an empire stretching one thousand five hundred miles from Vienna to the Caucasus Mountains; and

WHEREAS, The Ottomans could neither tolerate nor integrate the independent Armenians, who spoke their own language and practiced their own religion; and

WHEREAS, The Ottomans functioned as a theocracy, with the sultan both head of state and absolute religious ruler; the pressure to maintain control over the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire became explosive as the Ottoman government exercised harsh repression, leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the 1890’s; and

WHEREAS, A new regime was installed and the Ottoman successors turned to a policy of pan- Turanism, under which all peoples in the Empire would be forced to lose their right to self determination, a right denied this very day to over four million Armenians in the Soviet Union; and

WHEREAS, Pan-Turanism led to harsher measures in suppressing Armenian nationalism, and in 1909, more than thirty thousand Armenians were massacred in villages along the Cilician plains; and

WHEREAS, The early part of this century saw European powers choosing sides during the First World War, and Turkey joined forces with Germany against the Allies; and

WHEREAS, The immediate slaughter of all the Armenian elite, including the clergy, the intellectuals, the professionals and members of the business community, which was ordered on April 24, 1915, is commemorated by Armenians as the beginning of the Armenian genocide; and

WHEREAS, The horrors to which Armenian Christians were subjected during this, the first holocaust of the twentieth century, are unspeakable and such crimes are morally offensive and outrageous to the basic principles and values of civilization; and

WHEREAS, History attests to the devastation of the Armenian community with the extermination of more than one and one-half million Armenians in 1915 alone, as well as the wholesale massacres of hundreds of thousands more between 1896 and 1923; and

WHEREAS, The only Armenian American member of Congress, Representative Charles Pashayan, Jr., has produced evidence confirming that eight United States Presidents; namely, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover and Warren G. Harding; were aware of the Christian Armenian massacres and were concerned about the fate of the Armenian population; and

WHEREAS, As early as 1894, President Benjamin Harrison wrote that “my indignation and sympathy have been greatly aroused by the press reports of the fearful outrages practiced on the Armenians.”; and

WHEREAS, President Grover Cleveland, in his 1895 Annual Message to Congress, discussed “the reported massacres of Christians in Armenia,” describing the conduct of the Turkish government as “fanatical brutality”; and

WHEREAS, President Theodore Roosevelt stated in his 1904 Annual Message to Congress, “Our nation should desire eagerly to give expression to its horror… when it witnesses such systematic and long-extended cruelty and oppression as the cruelty and oppression of which the Armenians have been the victims, and which have won for them the indignant pity of the civilized world.”; and

WHEREAS, President William Howard Taft, in his 1920 Papers on the League of Nations, wrote that “the people of the Jewish race have suffered more in this war, as non-combatants, than any other people, unless it be the Serbians and the Armenians.”; and

WHEREAS, in 1918, President Woodrow Wilson defined specific boundaries for establishing a free and independent Armenia under the auspices of the United States, constituting one of his Fourteen Points of Peace for the League of Nations; and

WHEREAS, President Wilson later advocated direct military intervention on behalf of the Armenians in 1919; and

WHEREAS, President Warren G. Harding wrote to his Secretary of State in 1921 that “If it is believed that a warship can be sent to an Armenian port on the Mediterranean I should have very little hesitancy in making such a suggestion on behalf of these stricken people.”; and

WHEREAS, Turkey was proclaimed a republic in 1923, with Kemal Ataturk as its president, the Caliphate was abolished and the Sultan exiled, and religious freedom established; and

WHEREAS, Turkey in World War II supported the Allied Powers and today is a member of NATO and fought alongside American troops in Korea; and

WHEREAS, The memory of the Armenian tragedy is still recalled and Professor Raphael Lemkin, a survivor of Nazi Poland, who first coined the term “genocide” to describe the deliberate destruction of a people, was outraged by the extermination of the Armenians and was the first person to characterize the atrocities of 1915 to 1923 as the “Armenian genocide”; and

WHEREAS, Professor Lemkin’s persistence and determination to urge the United Nations, in the name of justice, to recognize and educate the public as to the crimes, prompted Representative Coelho, Pashayan, Conte, Dornan and Aspin and United States Senators Levin and D’Amato to introduce a Joint Resolution during the First Session of the 99th Congress “To designate April 24, 1985, as ‘National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man,” which read, “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as ‘National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, and the President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such a day as a day of remembrance for all victims of genocide, especially the more than one and one-half million people of Armenian ancestry who were victims of the genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and 1923, and in whose memory this date is commemorated by all Armenians and their friends throughout the world.”; and

WHEREAS, The United States Senate, on February 19, 1986, endorsed the Genocide Convention by a vote of 87-11; and

WHEREAS, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole described the treaty as having enormous symbolic value as a world wise statement of outrage and condemnation over very real horrors – “As real as the Armenian genocide and Hitler’s death camps”; and

WHEREAS, The New York State Legislature has long been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the victims and survivors of such holocausts are not forgotten; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to denounce the Ottoman massacres of Armenians and, mindful of the presidential statements which reflect an American policy of recognition of the Armenian genocide for nearly a century, focus collectively on the prevention of genocide through cooperation between nations; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Armenian Assembly of America, 122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001.

ADOPTED IN SENATE ON May 6, 1986

By order of the Senate,

(SIGNED)

Stephen F. Sloan, Secretary

Legislative Resolution
State of New York
April 24th, 1988

COMMEMORATING the Seventy-third Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred eighty-eight

WHEREAS, The Armenian Nation was founded around 700 B.C. by a tribe of Indo-Europeans who settled on a small pocket of land between Asia, Africa and Europe; a peaceful society, the Armenians developed their own language and culture over the centuries and became the first people to accept Christianity as their official religion shortly after 200 A.D.; and

WHEREAS, The land became vital trade route between the East and West and was coveted by Persians, the Medes, the Mongolians, the Russians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Arabs; however, the Christian Armenians were able to peacefully coexist with invading Armies until the birth of the Ottoman Nation, when the Turks established dominion over an empire stretching some on thousand five hundred miles from Vienna to the Caucasus Mountains; and

WHEREAS, The Turs could neither tolerate nor integrate the independent Armenians, who spoke their own language and practiced their own religion, and

WHEREAS, The early part of this century saw European powers choosing aides during the First World War, and Turkey joined forces with Germany against the Allies; and

WHEREAS, The immediate slaughter of all the Armenian elite, including the clergy, the intellectuals, the professionals and members of the business community, ordered by the Turks on April 24, 1915, is commemorated by Armenians as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, During the second half of the nineteenth century, the Armenian population of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire became the target of increasing persecution by the Ottoman government. These persecutions culminated in a three decade period during which millions of Armenian were systematically uprooted from their homeland of three thousand years and eliminated through massacres and exile; and

WHEREAS, Between eighteen hundred ninety-four and eighteen hundred ninety-six, three hundred thousand Armenians were massacred during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdu-Hammid II; in nineteen hundred nine, thirty thousand Armenians were massacred in the area of Cilicia; and between nineteen hundred fifteen and nineteen hundred twenty-two, one million five hundred thousand Armenians were killed, and  more than five thousand were exiled from the Ottoman Empire; and

WHEREAS, By the beginning of World War I, there were more than two million five hundred thousand living in the Ottoman Empire, today, fewer than one hundred thousand declared Armenians remain in Turkey, most of them in Istanbul and Western Turkey. The Eastern provinces, the Armenian heartland, are virtually without Armenians; and

WHEREAS, On April twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred fifteen, hundreds of Armenian religious, political and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in remote places in Anatolia; and

WHEREAS, Within several months, the approximately two hundred fifty thousand Armenians serving in the Ottoman army during World War I were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions where they were either starved or executed; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people, deprived of their leadership and young able-bodied men and disarmed under threat of severe punishment, were then deported from every city, town or village of Asia Minor and Turkish Armenia. In most instances during the death marches, the men and older boys were quickly separated and executed soon after leaving town. The unprotected women and children were marched for weeks into the Syrian desert and subjected to rape, torture, and mutilation along the way. The majority of the deportees died on the marches of forced starvation, disease and massacred; and

WHEREAS, Approximately five hundred thousand refugees escaped to the North across the Russian border, south into Arab countries, or to Europe and the United States. Thus, the Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire was virtually eliminated as a result of a carefully executed government plan of genocide; and

WHEREAS, United States AMbassador to Turkey Henry Morgenthau, in Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story, is quoted as saying: “When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact…I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacre and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in nineteen hundred fifteen.”; and

WHEREAS, The horrors to which Armenian Christians were subjected during this, the first holocaust of the twentieth century, are unspeakable and such crimes are morally offensive and outrageous to the basic principles and values of civilization; and

WHEREAS, History attests to the devastation of the Armenian community with the extermination of more than one and one-half million Armenians in nineteen hundred fifteen along, as well as the wholesale massacres of hundred of thousands more between eighteen hundred ninety-four and nineteen hundred twenty-three; and

WHEREAS, The United States Senate, on February nineteenth, nineteen hundred eighty-six, endorsed the Genocide Convention by a vote of eighty-seven to eleven; and

WHEREAS, The treaty has enormous symbolic value as a worldwide statement of outrage and condemnation over real horrors – as real as the Armenian Genocide and Hitler’s death camps; and

WHEREAS, The New York State Legislative has long been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the victims and survivors of such holocausts are not forgotton; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the Seventy-third Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred eighty-eight; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Armenian National Committee, 80 Bigelow Avenue, Watertown, Massachusetts 02172.

Resolutions, Legislative
THE STATE OF NEW YORK
April 19, 2002

NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 87th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 19, 2002

WHEREAS, This Resolution arises from a sense of human decency and respect for the Armenian people and their history; and

WHEREAS, Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Turkish Government began to systematically persecute their citizens of Armenian heritage; and

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1896, Sultan Abdu-Hamid II ordered the massacre of 300,000 Armenians living within the boundaries of the Turkish Empire; and

WHEREAS, In 1909, 30,000 more Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by Turkish armies in the mountain village of Cilicia; and

WHEREAS, Nonetheless, by the onset of World War I, there still remained 2,500,000 Armenians who made their homes within the Ottoman Empire; of these, over 250,000 were faithful soldiers who loyally fought within the ranks of its armies in an effort to defend their homeland; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious, political and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in secret death camps hidden in mountainsides; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of the next six months, the Armenian soldiers on active duty in the army were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions, whereupon many either starved or were summarily executed behind the fences of these camps; and

WHEREAS, Deprived of their leaders and the young men who could defend these helpless communities, the remaining Armenians became an easy target for the government raids and found themselves at the mercy of cruel and often barbaric persecutors; and

WHEREAS, A total of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children were massacred; 500,000 more were exiled; and 500,000 were able to escape the reign of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands; as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey; and

WHEREAS, The devastation which resulted from this “ethnic cleansing” practiced by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire occurred in a similar ratio to that caused by the Jewish Holocaust of 1940, yet most of the world’s peoples do not realize the gravity of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their ancestral lands; they have received no form of reparations for their tragic losses; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 87th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to be recognized at a reception on Friday, April 19, 2002, at the New York Hemsley Hotel, New York, New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, that this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Alex Sarafian, Chairman, Armenian National Committee of New York and Friends of ANC-NY.

Legislative Resolution Senate No. 5233 BY Senator  Maltese
State of New York
April 15th, 2008

COMMEMORATING the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian  Genocide on Thursday, April 24, 2008

WHEREAS, This Resolution arises from a sense of human decency and respect for the Armenian  people and their  history; and

WHEREAS, Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Turkish Government began to systematically  persecute their citizens of Armenian heritage;  and

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1896, Sultan Abdu-Hamid II ordered the massacre of 300,000 Armenians  living within the boundaries of the Turkish Empire;  and

WHEREAS, In 1909, 30,000 more Armenian men, women and children were  slaughtered by Turkish armies in the mountain village of Cilicia;   and

WHEREAS, Nonetheless, by the onset of World War I, there still remained 2,500,000 Armenians who made their homes within the Ottoman Empire; of these, over 250,000 were faithful soldiers who loyally fought within the ranks of its armies in an effort to defend their homeland; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in secret death camps hidden in mountainsides; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of the next six months, the Armenian soldiers on active duty in the army were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions, whereupon many  either  starved or were summarily executed behind the fences of these camps;   and

WHEREAS, Deprived of their leaders and the young men who could defend these helpless communities, the remaining Armenians became an easy target for the government raids and found themselves at the mercy of cruel and often barbaric persecutors; and

WHEREAS, A total of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children were massacred; 500,000 more were exiled; and 500,000 were able to escape the reign of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands; as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian  heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey;  and

WHEREAS, The devastation which resulted from this “ethnic cleansing”  practiced by  the rulers of the Ottoman Empire occurred in a similar ratio to that caused by the Jewish Holocaust of the 1940s, yet most of the world’s peoples do not realize the gravity of the Armenian  genocide; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their  ancestral lands; they have received no form of reparations for their tragic  losses;   and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now, therefore,  be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to be recognized on Thursday, April 24, 2008; on Friday, April 25, 2008, Armenian Americans from throughout the Northeast will converge in New York City to commemorate the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide; the day will commence with a commemoration ceremony at New York City Hall; this year’s Keynote Speaker is Henry Theriault, Professor of philosophy; in addition, there will be a second convergence of Armenian Americans at Times Square in New York  City on Sunday, April  27, 2008, to once again commemorate the anniversary of the 1915 Armen ian Genocide; and be it  further

RESOLVED, That this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took    place; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Doug Geogerian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of New York and Kenneth V. Hachikian,  Chairman  of  the  Armenian   National Committee.

ADOPTED  IN SENATE ON April 15th, 2008

By order of the Senate,

(SIGNED)

Steven M. Boggess, Secretary

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
New York

WHEREAS,  This  Resolution  arises  from  a  sense  of human decency and respect for the Armenian people and their history; and

WHEREAS, Toward the end of the 19th century, the Turkish Government began to systematically persecute their citizens of Armenian heritage; and

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1896, Sultan Abdu-Hamid II ordered the massacre of 300,000 Armenians living within the boundaries of the Turkish Empire; and

WHEREAS, In 1909, 30,000 more Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by Turkish armies in the mountain village of Cilicia; and

WHEREAS, Nonetheless, by the onset of World War I, there  still remained 2,500,000 Armenians who made their homes within the Ottoman Empire; of these, over 250,000 were faithful soldiers who loyally fought within the ranks of its armies in an effort to defend their  homeland; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in secret death camps hidden in mountainsides; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of the next six months, the Armenian soldiers on active duty in the army were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions, whereupon many either starved or were summarily executed behind the fences of these camps; and

WHEREAS, Deprived of their leaders and the young men who could defend these helpless communities, the remaining Armenians became an  easy target for the government raids and found themselves at the mercy of cruel and often barbaric persecutors; and

WHEREAS, A total of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children were massacred; 500,000 more were exiled; and 500,000 were able to escape the reign of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands; as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey; and

WHEREAS,  The  devastation which resulted from this “ethnic cleansing” practiced by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire occurred  in a similar ratio to that caused by the Jewish Holocaust of 1940, yet most of the world’s peoples do not realize the gravity of the Armenian genocide; and WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their ancestral lands; they have received no form of reparations for their tragic losses; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to recognize the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Capital District Armenian Genocide Committee.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 24, 2016, as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the State of New York

WHEREAS, This Resolution arises from a sense of human decency and respect for the Armenian people and their history; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its longstanding traditions, it is the sense of this Legislative Body to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 24, 2016, as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the State of New York; and

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 because the arrest on that day, and subsequent execution, of several hundred Armenian leaders alerted the world about the Ottoman Turks’ genocidal plan; and

WHEREAS, Despite Armenians’ historic presence, stewardship, and autonomy in the region, Turkish rulers of the Ottoman Empire subjected Armenians to severe and unjust persecution and brutality including widespread and wholesale massacres beginning in the 1890s, most notably the Hamidian Massacres from 1894 to 1896, and the Adana Massacre of 1909; and

WHEREAS, By 1923, these crimes against humanity not only resulted in the killing of unprecedented numbers of innocent people, but also had the consequence of permanently removing all traces of the 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, This Resolution declares that this Legislative Body deplores the persistent, ongoing efforts by any person, in this country or abroad, to deny the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, The failure of the international community to hold responsible nations accountable for crimes against humanity results in travesty of justice, and sets a negative precedent; 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 No. 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 Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 adopted on February 9, 1916, Senate 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, On April 24, 2013, the President of the United States stated, “A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of our interests. Nations grow stronger by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future”; and

WHEREAS, President Obama entered office having stated his “firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence” and affirmed his record of “calling for Turkey’s acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide”; and

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

WHEREAS, Near East Relief was the first Congressionally-sanctioned American philanthropic effort created exclusively to rescue the Armenian Nation and other Christian minorities from annihilation after U.S. Ambassador to Constantinople Henry A. Morgenthau, Jr., pled for assistance upon personally witnessing the systematic massacre of Armenians; and

WHEREAS, Near East Relief’s efforts resulted in delivering $117 million 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 Armenian and Assyrian refugees nation from being completely annihilated by the Genocide by saving more than one million refugees, including more than 130,000 orphans through their humanitarian assistance; and

WHEREAS, Near East Relief evolved into the Near East Foundation in 1930, and continues to provide humanitarian aid to people throughout the Middle East and Africa; and

WHEREAS, New York is home to a vibrant Armenian-American community who have enriched our State through their leadership and contribution in .SO DOC S R4117 RESO TEXT 2015 business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts; and

WHEREAS, The State of New York endeavors to encourage and promote a curriculum relating to human rights and genocide in order to empower future generations to prevent the recurrence of genocide; and

WHEREAS, April 24, 2016, will mark the 101st Anniversary since the commencement of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, Armenians in New York, 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; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 24, 2016, as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York.

THE LEGISLATURE
NEW YORK STATE
April 24, 1975

JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY memorializing Governor Hugh Carey to proclaim April twenty-four, nineteen hundred seventy-five as “Armenian Martyrs Day”

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1918, 1,900,000 Armenians were massacred in an attempt to eliminate the race; and

WHEREAS, April twenty-fourth commemorates the sixtieth (60th) anniversary of the massacre of 1,500,000 Armenians by the Turks; and

WHEREAS, These massacres represented the culmination of over four centuries of persecution of the Armenians following the overthrow of the last Armenian dynasty; and

WHEREAS, The deaths of these Armenian martyrs lead to the creation of an independent Armenian state; and

WHEREAS, This independent Armenia was crushed by superior outside forces; and

WHEREAS, The independent Armenian nation for which these martyrs died was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union; and

WHEREAS, These martyrs give their lives for the cause of freedom; now, therefore, be it Resolved, The that the Legislature of the State of New York expresses its admiration for the

strength and independent spirit displayed by the Armenian people throughout their history; and be it further

Resolved, That Governor Hugh Carey is hereby respectfully memorialized to proclaim April twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred seventy-five as “Armenian Martyrs Day”.

STATE OF NEW YORK
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION ASSEMBLY NO. 776
April 4, 1986

BY; The Committee on Rules (at the request of Messrs. Hevesi, Seminerio, Koppell, Murtaugh, Bennett, Boyland, Brennan, Butler, Catapano, Colman, Conners, Ms. Daniels, Del Toro, Diaz, Ms. Dugan, Farrell, Feldman, Gottfied, Graber, Mrs. Greene, Halpin, Harenberg, Healey, Hinchey, Hoyt, Kramer, Lafayette, Lasher, Leibell, Lentol, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. McPhillips, H.M. Miller, Nadler, Ms. Nolan, O’Neil, Proskin, Proud, Rivera, Schimminger, Seabrook, Siegel, Ms. Slaughter, E.C. Sullivan, Tedisco, Tocci, Tonko, Waldon, Ms. Weinstein and Yevoli)

DENOUNCING THE Ottoman massacres of Armenians

WHEREAS, The Armenian Nation was founded around 700 B.C. by a tribe of Indo-Europeans who settled on a small pocket of land between Asia, Africa and Europe; a peaceful society, the Armenians developed their own language and culture over the centuries and became the first people to accept Christianity as their official religion shortly after 300 A.D.; and

WHEREAS, The land became a vital trade route between the East and West and was coveted by the Persians, the Medes, the Mongolians, the Russians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs; however, the Christian Armenians were able to peacefully coexist with invading Armies until the birth of the Ottoman Nation, when the Turks established dominion over an empire stretching some one thousand five hundred miles from Vienna to the Caucasus Mountains; and

WHEREAS, The Turks could neither tolerate nor integrate the independent Armenians, who spoke their own language and practiced their own religion; and

WHEREAS, Turkey was an Islamic theocracy, with the sultan both head of state and absolute religious ruler; the pressure to maintain control over the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire became explosive as the Ottoman government exercised harsh repression, leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the 1890’s; and

WHEREAS, A new Turkish regime was installed and the Young Turks turned to a policy of pan- Turanism, under which all peoples in the Empire would be forced to become Turkish; and

WHEREAS, Pan-Turanism led to harsher measures in suppressing Armenian nationalism, and in 1909, more than thirty thousand Armenians were massacred in villages along the Cilician plains; and

WHEREAS, The early part of this century saw European powers choosing sides during the First World War, and Turkey joined forces with Germany against the Allies; and

WHEREAS, The immediate slaughter of all the Armenian elite, including the clergy, the intellectuals, the professionals and members of the business community, ordered by the Turks on April 24, 1915, is commemorated by Armenians as the beginning of the Armenian genocide; and

WHEREAS, The horrors to which Armenian Christians were subjected during this, the first holocaust of the twentieth century, are unspeakable and such crimes are morally offensive and outrageous to the basic principles and values of civilization; and

WHEREAS, History attests to the devastation of the Armenian community with the extermination of more than one and one-half million Armenians in 1915 alone, as well as the wholesale massacres of hundreds of thousands more between 1896 and 1923; and

WHEREAS, The only Armenian American member of Congress, Representative Charles Pashayan, Jr., has produced evidence confirming that eight United States Presidents; namely, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover and Warren G. Harding; were aware of the Christian Armenian massacres and were concerned about the fate of the Armenian population; and

WHEREAS, As early as 1894, President Benjamin Harrison wrote that “my indignation and sympathy have been greatly aroused by the press reports of the fearful outrages practiced on the Armenians.”; and

WHEREAS, President Grover Cleveland, in his 1895 Annual Message to Congress, discussed “the reported massacres of Christians in Armenia,” describing the conduct of the Turkish government as “fanatical brutality”; and

WHEREAS, President Theodore Roosevelt stated in his 1904 Annual Message to Congress, “Our nation should ensure eagerly to give expression to its horror,… when it witnesses such systematic and long-extended cruelty and oppression as the cruelty and oppression of which the Armenians have been the victims, and which have won for them the indignant pity of the civilized world.”; and

WHEREAS, President William Howard Taft, in his 1920 Papers on the League of Nations, wrote that “the people of the Jewish race have suffered more in this war, as non-combatants, than any other people, unless it be the Serbians and the Armenians.”; and

WHEREAS, In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson defined specific boundaries for establishing a free and independent Armenia under the auspices of the United States, constituting one of his Fourteen Points of Peace for the League of Nations; and

WHEREAS, President Wilson later advocated direct military intervention on behalf of the Armenians in 1919; and

WHEREAS, President Warren G. Harding wrote to his Secretary of State in 1921 that “If it is believed that a warship can be sent to an Armenian port on the Mediterranean I should have very little hesitancy in making such a suggestion on behalf of these stricken people.”; and

WHEREAS, Professor Raphael Lemkin, a survivor of Nazi Poland, who first coined the term “genocide” to describe the deliberate destruction of a people, was outraged by the extermination of the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and was the first person to characterize the atrocities of 1915 to 1923 as the “Armenian genocide”; and

WHEREAS, Professor Lemkin’s persistence and determination to urge the United Nations, in the name of justice, to recognize and educate the public as to the crimes, prompted Representatives Coelho, Pashayan, Conte, Dornan and Aspin and United States Senators Levin and D’Amato to introduce a Joint Resolution during the First Session of the 99th Congress “To designate April 24, 1985, as ‘National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’,” which read, “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of American in Congress assembled, That April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as ‘National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, and the President of the United States is authorized and requested to issued a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such a day as a day of remembrance for all victims of genocide, especially the more than one and one-half million people of Armenian ancestry who were victims of the genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and 1923, and in whose memory this date is commemorated by all Armenians and their friends throughout the world.”; and

WHEREAS, The United States Senate, on February 19, 1986, endorsed the Genocide Convention by a vote of 87-11; and

WHEREAS, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole described the treaty as having enormous symbolic value as a worldwide statement of outrage and condemnation over very real horrors – “As real as the Armenian genocide and Hitler’s death camps”; and

WHEREAS, The New York State Legislature has long been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the victims and survivors of such holocausts are not forgotten; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to denounce the Ottoman massacres of Armenians and, mindful of the presidential statements which reflect an American policy of recognition of the Armenian genocide for nearly a century, focus collectively on the prevention of genocide through cooperation between nations; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Armenian Assembly of America 122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001.

ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY ON

April 4, 1986

By order of the Assembly,

(SIGNED)

Francine M. Misasi, Clerk

NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 87th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
New York
April 19, 2002

WHEREAS, This Resolution arises from a sense of human decency and respect for the Armenian people and their history; and

WHEREAS, Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Turkish Government began to systematically persecute their citizens of Armenian heritage; and

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1896, Sultan Abdu-Hamid II ordered the massacre of 300,000 Armenians living within the boundaries of the Turkish Empire; and

WHEREAS, In 1909, 30,000 more Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by Turkish armies in the mountain village of Cilicia; and

WHEREAS, Nonetheless, by the onset of World War I, there still remained 2,500,000 Armenians who made their homes within the Ottoman Empire; of these, over 250,000 were faithful soldiers who loyally fought within the ranks of its armies in an effort to defend their homeland; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious, political and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in secret death camps hidden in mountainsides; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of the next six months, the Armenian soldiers on active duty in the army were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions, whereupon many either starved or were summarily executed behind the fences of these camps; and

WHEREAS, Deprived of their leaders and the young men who could defend these helpless communities, the remaining Armenians became an easy target for the government raids and found themselves at the mercy of cruel and often barbaric persecutors; and

WHEREAS, A total of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children were massacred; 500,000 more were exiled; and 500,000 were able to escape the reign of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands; as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey; and

WHEREAS, The devastation which resulted from this “ethnic cleansing” practiced by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire occurred in a similar ratio to that caused by the Jewish Holocaust of 1940, yet most of the world’s peoples do not realize the gravity of the Armenian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their ancestral lands; they have received no form of reparations for their tragic losses; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 87th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to be recognized at a reception on Friday, April 19, 2002, at the New York Hemsley Hotel, New York, New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, that this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Alex Sarafian, Chairman, Armenian National Committee of New York and Friends of ANC-NY.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on Thursday, April 24, 2008

WHEREAS,  This  Resolution  arises  from  a  sense  of human decency and respect for the Armenian people and their history; and

WHEREAS, Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Turkish Government began to systematically persecute their citizens of Armenian heritage; and

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1896, Sultan Abdu-Hamid II ordered the massacre of 300,000 Armenians living within the boundaries of the Turkish Empire; and

WHEREAS, In 1909, 30,000 more Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by Turkish armies in the mountain village of Cilicia; and

WHEREAS, Nonetheless, by the onset of World War I, there still  remained 2,500,000 Armenians who made their homes within the Ottoman Empire; of these, over 250,000 were faithful soldiers who loyally fought within the ranks of its armies in an effort to defend their homeland; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in secret death camps hidden in mountainsides; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of the next six months, the Armenian soldiers on active duty in the army were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions, whereupon many either starved or were summarily executed behind the fences of these camps; and

WHEREAS, Deprived of their leaders and the young men who could defend these helpless communities, the remaining Armenians became an easy  target for the government raids and found themselves at the mercy of cruel and often barbaric persecutors; and

WHEREAS, A total of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children were massacred; 500,000 more were exiled; and 500,000 were able to escape the reign of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands; as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey; and

WHEREAS, The devastation which resulted from this “ethnic cleansing” practiced by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire occurred in a  similar ratio to that caused by the Jewish Holocaust of the 1940s, yet most of the world’s peoples do not realize the gravity of the Armenian genocide; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their ancestral lands; they have received no form of reparations for their tragic losses; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to be recognized on Thursday, April 24, 2008; on Friday, April 25, 2008, Armenian Americans from throughout the Northeast will converge in New York  City to commemorate the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide; the day will commence with a commemoration ceremony at New York City Hall; this year’s Keynote Speaker is Henry Theriault, Professor of philosophy; in addition, there will be a second convergence of Armenian Americans at Times  Square  in New York City on Sunday, April 27, 2008, to once again commemorate the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian  Genocide;  and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to  Doug Geogerian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of New York and Kenneth V. Hachikian, Chairman of the Armenian National Committee.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

WHEREAS,  This  Resolution  arises  from  a  sense  of human decency and respect for the Armenian people and their history; and

WHEREAS, Toward the end of the 19th century, the Turkish Government began to systematically persecute their citizens of Armenian heritage; and

WHEREAS, From 1894 to 1896, Sultan Abdu-Hamid II ordered the massacre of 300,000 Armenians living within the boundaries of the Turkish Empire; and

WHEREAS, In 1909, 30,000 more Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered by Turkish armies in the mountain village of Cilicia; and

WHEREAS, Nonetheless, by the onset of World War I, there  still remained 2,500,000 Armenians who made their homes within the Ottoman Empire; of these, over 250,000 were faithful soldiers who loyally fought within the ranks of its armies in an effort to defend their  homeland; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders were rounded up, exiled and eventually murdered in secret death camps hidden in mountainsides; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of the next six months, the Armenian soldiers on active duty in the army were disarmed and placed in forced labor battalions, whereupon many either starved or were summarily executed behind the fences of these camps; and

WHEREAS, Deprived of their leaders and the young men who could defend these helpless communities, the remaining Armenians became an easy target for the government raids and found themselves at the mercy of cruel and often barbaric persecutors; and

WHEREAS, A total of 1,500,000 Armenian men, women and children were massacred; 500,000 more were exiled; and 500,000 were able to escape the reign of terror and establish themselves in new foreign lands; as a result, today there are only 100,000 people of Armenian heritage left residing within the borders of modern Turkey; and

WHEREAS, The devastation which resulted from this “ethnic cleansing” practiced by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire occurred  in a similar ratio to that caused by the Jewish Holocaust of 1940, yet most of the world’s peoples do not realize the gravity of the Armenian genocide; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian people have been denied the right to self-determination on their ancestral lands; they have received no form of reparations for their tragic losses; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Armenian community honor the memory of the victims of this genocide and emphasize that crimes against humanity must be condemned and never be allowed; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to recognize the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Resolution is intended to counter the tide of revisionist history which purports that the Armenian Genocide never took place; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Capital District Armenian Genocide Committee.

Proclamation
CITY OF NEW YORK
April 24th, 2002

WHEREAS: The Council of the City of New lark marks the 87^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and provision April 2d. 2002 to be Armenian Martyrs Day In the City of New York and

WHEREAS: Between 1915 and 1923. the Ottoman Turks carried out a genocidal campaign that led to the extermination of 1.500,000 Armenians and the deportation of countless other Armenians: and

WHEREAS: During the genocide. Armenians were forced to witness the rape, mutilation and slaughter of their families, the desecration of their churches, the looting of their personal property. the dispossession of their real property and the loss of their ancestral homeland: and

WHEREAS: The ancestral homeland of the Armenian people taken by the Ottoman Turks has not been returned to the Armenian people, nor have Armenians received compensation for their losses: and

WHEREAS: The denial of the genocide by modern Turkey dishonors Me memory of the forefathers of all living Armenians; and

WHEREAS: Armenians have traditionally designated April 24th as Armenian Martyrs Day in recognition and remembrance of those who perished during the genocide: and

WHEREAS: The year 2002 marks the 87^th anniversary of the genocide; and

WHEREAS: It is of utmost importance to remember the past so that its atrocities net repeated: now therefore

BE IT KNOWN: That the Council of the City of New York declares April 24. 2002 to be

ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY

In the City of New York.

Signed this 24^th day of April in the year Two Thousand and Two,

(SIGNED)

MELINDA KATZ, Council Member

District 29

Queens

CITY OF ALBANY, NEW YORK
April 8th, 2005

WHEREAS, The extermination of more than one and one-half million Armenians and the forced deportation of countless others is remembered every year on April 24th since /915 as Armenian Martyrs Day: and

WHEREAS, Ninety years ago, Armenians were forced to witness the slaughter of their relatives and the loss of their ancestral homeland; and

WHEREAS, The continued denial of the Armenian Genocide deprives the Armenian people of the right to their own history.

NO THEREFORE, 1, Gerald D. Jennings, Mayor of the City of Albany, New York do hereby proclaim Friday. April 22, 2005 as

“ARMENIAN MARTYRS DAY”

in the City of Albany, New York.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Albany, New York to be affixed this 8th day of April, 2005

(SIGNED)

MAYOR

NEW YORK, NY
May 1st, 2011

WHEREAS, Every year since 1915, people around the world have come together to observe  the anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide. New York City is honored to join the Knights of Vartan once again in paying tribute to everyone who suffered and perished. Today, we take this opportunity to reflect on and  renew our commitment to understanding the horrors of the past, at the same time we voice our hope for a future free of violence  and  intolerance.

WHEREAS, The first victims of the genocide were the religious, political, and intellectual leaders of Constantinople’s Armenian community, who were arrested and murdered on April 24, 1915. Over the next eight years, nearly 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children perished, and thousands more were deported from their homeland. Approximately 20,000 Armenian refugees came to New York and found comfort in the small but vital Armenian community that has thrived in our city since the mid-19th century.

WHEREAS, No city has opened its doors more widely to the world than New York. Our city remains a place where people  of every background  and belief strive to live  together in harmony, and it is no surprise that our residents are among the leaqµig advocates for a more just world. Together, we honor the lives of those lost 96 years ago, and faithfully look ahead to the continued success of a city that proudly accepts and  appreciates everyone.

Now therefore, I, Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, in honor of those who lost their lives during the Armenian genocide, do hereby proclaim Sunday, May 1st, 2011 in the City of New York  as:

“Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day“