On Aug. 24, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation memorializing the Armenian Genocide and declaring Oct. 2017 “Armenia Awareness Month” in the Hawkeye State.
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August
24, 2017
Governor
Kim Reynolds Declares Oct. 2017 ‘Armenia Awareness Month’ During Official
Signing Ceremony with ANCA Eastern Region, Human Rights Coalition Leaders, and
Clergy
DES
MOINES, Iowa (A.W.)—Moments ago, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a
proclamation memorializing the Armenian Genocide and declaring Oct. 2017 as
“Armenia Awareness Month” in the Hawkeye State. Iowa is now the 47th U.S. state
to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.
The
signing was attended by members of the Armenian community, including Father
Tadeos Barseghyan of the St. Sahag Armenian Church of Minnesota, and Armen
Sahakyan of the Armenian National Committee of America—Eastern Region
(ANCA-ER). St. Sahag is the closest Armenian church serving the
Armenian-American community of Iowa.
“Iowa’s
commemoration and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide strikes a powerful blow
against the hatred and intolerance which contribute to the ongoing vicious
cycle of genocide plaguing society to this day,” said Sahakyan, an ANCA-ER
Board Member. Sahakyan spent a portion of his youth living in Iowa. “We would
like to thank Governor Reynolds, Representative Art Staed, and all of our
coalition partners for their principled stance in ensuring that truth prevails
against international attempts to subvert justice for this and all other crimes
against humanity,” he added.
The
Philos Project Executive Director Robert Nicholson noted, “The Ottoman genocide
of the Armenian people was one of the most brutal acts in history and clear
evidence that evil still moves in the world. To deny the genocide is to ignore
that evil, and to ignore that evil is to betray our values as Americans. By
recognizing the genocide, the people of Iowa are declaring their willingness to
defend human life, protect minority communities, and preserve our national
heritage. We at The Philos Project thank and congratulate Governor Reynolds for
her boldness and moral clarity. She epitomizes the kind of principled leader we
need more of today.”
Iraqi
Christian Relief Council Board Member Denise Bubeck said, “This is an important
step in standing up for the many Christians who have lost their lives by
injustice. As a Christian, I believe that every life deserves dignity and
respect just as God values every human life so this proclamation gives me an
opportunity again to speak for the value of every life no matter their faith.”
“Mankind
must seek justice for those whose lives are brutally altered for all of
history,” said President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council and the Senior
Fellow for the Philos Project Juliana Taimoorazy. “This marks a historic step forward
towards this sacred endeavor.”
Coordinator
for the Iowans for Armenia Charles Crawley said, “As a civilized humanity, we
all should care about the Armenian Genocide and all other crimes against
humanity. ‘Iowans for Armenia’ is proud to continue the relationship created
between the American and Armenian people that stretches back to the
humanitarian assistance provided by the missionaries and people of good
conscience of our great state through the Near East Relief. Today’s signing of
the proclamation was an important step in securing some measure of justice for
the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek people.”
Noting
that the Ottoman Turkish government’s crime “still requires justice,” Gov.
Reynolds’ proclamation cited Adolf Hitler’s ominous reference to the murder of
the Armenian people just days prior to his invasion of Poland and the ensuing
Holocaust, which claimed the lives of over 6 million Jews and resulted in the
decimation of other targeted racial and religious minorities. The document
recounts the cycle of subsequent genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries,
specifically citing the 2016 Congressional condemnation of the Islamic State
genocide against Middle East Christians, Yezidis, and other minorities. It
concludes with the assertion that by “recognizing and consistently remembering
the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust and all cases of past and ongoing
genocide, we help protect historic memory, ensure that similar atrocities do
not occur again and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution and tyranny.”
Below
is footage of the signing ceremony, which took place at the Iowa State
Assembly. The ANCA-ER webcast the signing ceremony live from Governor Reynolds’
formal office.
Iowa’s
recognition comes a little more than three months after the Texas House of
Representatives unanimously
passed House Resolution 191, titled “Recognizing the Armenian Genocide,” on
May 19, and becoming the 46th state in the U.S. to officially classify and
commemorate the 1915-1923 annihilation of Ottoman Turkey’s indigenous Armenian
community as genocide.
The
State of Iowa proclamation can be read in its entirety, below.
State
of Iowa
Executive
Department
In
The Name and By The Authority of The State of Iowa
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS,
from 1915-1923 during the Armenian Genocide, one and one-half million ethnic
Armenian men, women and children as well as over one million Greeks, Assyrians,
Syriacs and others were massacred as part of the planned complete eradication
of those indigenous communities by the Ottoman Turkish Empire during the first
modern genocide that still requires justice; and
WHEREAS,
prior to the implementation of the Holocaust, in order to garner support from
his followers, Adolf Hitler asked, “Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians?”; and
WHEREAS,
the Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation
of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945 –
six million Jews were murdered; Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities and
Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic or
national reasons; and millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war and political dissidents, also suffered
grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny; and
WHEREAS,
other cases of genocide include the killings in Cambodia in 1975, the massacres
in Bosnia in 1992, the slaughter in Rwanda in 1994 and now in the 21st century,
the displacements and deaths in Darfur as well as targeting of religious
minorities by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Middle
East; and
WHEREAS,
the United States House of Representatives has adopted H.Con.Res. 75, declaring
the atrocities perpetrated by the ISIL against Christians, Yezidis and other
religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide; and
WHEREAS,
by recognizing and consistently remembering the Armenian Genocide, the
Holocaust and all cases of past and ongoing genocide, we help protect historic
memory, ensure that similar atrocities do not occur again and remain vigilant
against hatred, persecution and tyranny:
NOW,
THEREFORE, I, Kim Reynolds, Governor of the State of Iowa, do hereby proclaim
the month of October, 2017 as
ARMENIA
AWARENESS MONTH
IN
TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I HAVE
HEREUNTO
SUBSCRIBED MY NAME AND
CAUSED
THE GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF
IOWA
TO BE AFFIXED. DONE AT DES
MOINES
THIS 24TH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR
OF
OUR LORD TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN.
__________________________________
KIM
REYNOLDS
GOVERNOR
OF IOWA
ATTEST:
__________________________________
PAUL
D. PATE
SECRETARY
OF STATE
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds with members of the community after signing the proclamation (Photo: ANCA-ER)
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (center) with Armen Sahakyan (L) and Artur Martirosyan (R) of the ANCA-ER (Photo: ANCA-ER)
An image of the proclamation memorializing the Armenian Genocide and declaring Oct. 2017 “Armenia Awareness Month” (Photo: ANCA-ER)
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