Governor Schwarzenegger Proclaims April 24 “Day of Remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide”


EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
P R O C L A M A T I O N
by the
Governor of the State of California

Ninety years ago today, the Ottoman Turkish government waged a war of terror
on Armenian culture through the brutal deportation, imprisonment and
decimation of men, women and children of Armenian descent. By 1923, the
Ottoman Empire had dissolved, but its monstrous attempt at ethnic cleansing
left more than 1.5 million Armenians massacred and 500,000 survivors
forcibly exiled from their ancestral homeland.

Today, the Republic of Armenia remains as the world’s reminder of the
Armenian Genocide and of the indestructible spirit of a people. It is a
nation founded on the principles of freedom and democracy that we as
Americans prize above all else. Our state’s flourishing Armenian-American
population – the largest outside of Armenia – has left its indelible stamp
on our state’s history, industry and culture.

Each year, the Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide brings an
opportunity for all people to scrutinize the cause and consequence of this
grim massacre. To carve out a secure future free from intolerance and
persecution, we must examine the past and heed history’s lessons of
forewarning – for the sake of future generations who inherit our
civilization.

In 1969, then-Governor Ronald Reagan said, “Today, I humbly bow in memory of
the Armenian martyrs, who died in the name of freedom.” On the 90th
anniversary of this great human tragedy, Californians continue to join with
freedom-loving people around the world to honor the Armenian people as they
continue to show the world the true meaning of hope, renewal and
perseverance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of
California, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2005, as a “Day of Remembrance of
the Armenian Genocide.”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have here unto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of
the State of California to be affixed this the fourteenth day of April 2005.

http://www.schwarzenegger.com/news.asp?id=2012