OHIO BECOMES THE 40th STATE TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 20 2007
The Armenian National Committee of America- Eastern region welcomes
a proclamation issued by Governor Ted Strickland (D-OH) on April 17,
2007 recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
The "Buckeye State" proclamation brings the number of states to
formally recognize the Armenian Genocide to forty. The proclamation,
the first ever issued by the state of Ohio, comes a week after North
Dakota became the 39th state to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
The powerfully worded proclamation calls on "Ohioans to honor those,
who died in the Armenian Genocide, conceived and carried out by the
Ottoman Empire, by recognizing their suffering resulting from the
deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians." It goes on to cite the
"collective responsibility to uphold these values and to focus
the world’s attention on human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing,
and genocide."
Commenting on the proclamation, Governor Strickland stated: "We
have designated April 24 as the Ohio Day of Remembrance for those,
who suffered under the Armenian Genocide 92 years ago. I join Ohioans
in remembering the victims and continuing our commitment to justice
and human dignity across the world."
Ohio’s Congressional delegation has a strong record of support for
Armenian Genocide legislation with Representatives Dennis Kucinich
(D-10), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-11), Betty Sutton (D-13), Steve
LaTourette (R-14), Tim Ryan (D-17), and Zack Space (D-18) having
already cosponsored H. Res. 106. Newly elected Senator Sherrod Brown
(D) is a cosponsor of the Senate version of the initiative, S.Res.106.
The ANC of Ohio worked closely with Gov. Strickland’s office in
support of state recognition of this crime against humanity.
"Armenian-Americans applaud the Governors Proclamation," commented
ANC-OH activists David Krikorian. "His courage in giving voice to
this awful truth exemplifies the kind of leadership that will restore
America’s promise of greatness!"
Krikorian recently traveled to Washington, DC, and visited the
Ohio Congressional delegation as a part of the two-day grassroots
anti-genocide effort titled "End the Cycle of Genocide." Organized by
the ANCA and the Genocide Intervention Network, the campaign attracted
some 100 activists from across the U.S., who advocated passage of
Armenian Genocide legislation and targeted divestment from Sudan as
part of a series of concrete steps to stop the genocide in Darfur.