Hürriyet, ANKARA
April 18 2009
California starts ‘genocide’ mourn
WASHINGTON – California has declared next week to be ‘days for the
remembrance of the Armenian genocide.’ This is the fifth consecutive
year, the week around April 24 has been designated for the remembrance
of the "genocide" under California Republican Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
California, the most populated state in the United States, has
declared the week of April 19-26 to be "days of remembrance of the
Armenian genocide."
California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former movie
actor, said in his proclamation Thursday that nearly "1.5 million
Armenians had been killed and 500,000 others had been forced out of
their homeland" during the last years of the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the week including April 24
has been designated for remembrance of the "genocide" under
Schwarzenegger.
"We honor that commitment as we stand with our Armenian friends and
neighbors here and across the world in remembering and acknowledging
the genocide, the families it destroyed and the history it changed,"
Arnold Schwarzenegger said.
"We do not like to recall such sorrows, but we must so that we can
learn from history and renew our efforts to make sure nothing like
this ever happens again," he said.
U.S. Armenian groups praised Schwarzenegger’s move.
Seeking federal government’s recognition Schwarzenegger, an Austrian
immigrant, was elected California’s governor in 2004 and has since
backed the Armenian cause. A large Armenian-American community lives
in California. Forty-two of the 50 U.S. states have recognized World
War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. But
the federal government has declined to make a similar recognition.
Armenians are urging the federal government’s executive and
legislative branches to formally recognize what they see as the
"Armenian genocide." Turkey warns that any such U.S. recognition would
damage relations between the two nations in a major and lasting way.
U.S. presidents designate April 24 as the day of remembrance for
Armenian deaths.