BILL NUMBER: AJR 2 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Nazarian, Achadjian, and Wilk
DECEMBER 1, 2014
Relative to the Armenian Genocide.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 2, as introduced, Nazarian. Armenian Genocide.
This measure would, among other things, designate the month of
April 2015, as "California Month of Remembrance for the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923," and would call upon the President and
Congress of the United States to formally and consistently recognize
and reaffirm the historical truth that the atrocities committed
against the Armenian people constituted genocide, and would call upon
the Republic of Turkey to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian
Genocide and to work toward a just resolution.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, During the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, 1.5 million
men, women, and children of Armenian descent lost their lives at the
hands of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in its attempt to systematically
eliminate the Armenian race; 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, but not limited to, 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, The earlier massacres and subsequent genocide of the
Armenians constitute one of the most atrocious violations of human
rights in the history of the world; and
WHEREAS, Adolph Hitler, in persuading his army commanders that the
merciless persecution and killing of Jews, Poles, and other people
would bring no retribution, declared, "Who, after all, speaks today
of the annihilation of the Armenians?"; and
WHEREAS, Unlike other people and governments that have admitted
and denounced the abuses and crimes of predecessor regimes, and
despite the overwhelming proof of genocidal intent, the Republic of
Turkey has inexplicably and adamantly denied the occurrence of the
crimes against humanity committed by the Ottoman and Young Turk
rulers. Those denials compound the grief of the few remaining
survivors of the atrocities, desecrate the memory of the victims, and
cause continuing pain to the descendants of the victims; and
WHEREAS, Leaders of nations with strategic, commercial, and
cultural ties to the Republic of Turkey should be reminded of their
duty to encourage Turkish officials to cease efforts to distort facts
and deny the history of events surrounding the Armenian Genocide;
and
WHEREAS, The Republic of Turkey has escalated its international
campaign of Armenian Genocide denial, maintained its blockade of
Armenia and increased its pressure on the small but growing movement
in Turkey acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and seeking justice for
this systematic campaign of destruction of millions of Armenians,
Greeks, Assyrians, Pontians, Syriacs, and other Christians upon their
biblical-era homelands; and
WHEREAS, Those citizens of Turkey, both Armenian and non-Armenian,
who continue to speak the truth about the Armenian Genocide, such as
human rights activist and journalist Hrant Dink, continue to be
silenced by violent means; and
WHEREAS, The accelerated level and scope of denial and
revisionism, coupled with the passage of time and the fact that very
few survivors remain who can serve as reminders of the indescribable
brutality and the lives that were tormented, compel a sense of
urgency in efforts to solidify recognition of historical truth; 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 United States House of Representatives Joint
Resolution 148 adopted on April 9, 1975, and United States House of
Representatives Joint Resolution 247 adopted on September 12 , 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 United States Senate Concurrent
Resolution 12 adopted on February 9, 1916, United States 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, 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, There is continued concern about the welfare of
Christians in the Republic of Turkey, their right to worship and
practice their faith freely, and the legal status and condition of
churches and other places of worship, monasteries, schools,
hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious
properties in the Republic of Turkey; and
WHEREAS, California is home to the largest Armenian-American
population in the United States, and Armenians living in California
have enriched our state through their leadership and contribution in
business, agriculture, academia, government, and the arts; and
WHEREAS, The State of California has been at the forefront of
encouraging and promoting a curriculum relating to human rights and
genocide in order to empower future generations to prevent the
recurrence of genocide; and
WHEREAS, On April 24, 2014, President Obama stated, "A full,
frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of our
interests. Peoples and nations grow stronger, and build a foundation
for a more just and tolerant future, by acknowledging and reckoning
with painful elements of the past"; 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, The United States' national interests in establishing
equitable, constructive, stable, and durable relations between
Armenians and Turks cannot be meaningfully advanced by circumventing
or otherwise seeking to avoid the central political, legal, security,
and moral issue between these two nations: Turkey's denial of truth
and justice for the Armenian Genocide; and
WHEREAS, The 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide signifies
a global demand for justice by Armenians worldwide and all people of
good will and this centennial marks one of the 20th century's
greatest crimes against humanity, when in 1915, the Turkish
Government began a premeditated and systematic campaign to uproot the
Armenian population from its ancestral homeland and slaughter 1.5
million defenseless men, women, and children; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature hereby designates the month
of April 2015, as "California Month of Remembrance for the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923"; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature commends its conscientious
educators who teach about human rights and genocide; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully calls upon the
President and Congress 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 genocide; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature calls on the President of the
United States to work toward equitable, constructive, stable, and
durable Armenian-Turkish relations based upon the Republic of Turkey'
s full acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the
Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and comprehensive international
resolution of this crime against humanity; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature declares that it deplores the
persistent, ongoing efforts by any person, in this country or abroad,
to deny the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon the Republic of Turkey
to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian Genocide and to work toward
a just resolution; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, the Governor,
and the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.