Senate Joint Resolution No. 21

Introduced by Senators De León and Yee

(Coauthor: Senator Lara)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Gatto, Nazarian, and Wilk)

March 24, 2014

Senate Joint Resolution No. 21—Relative to the Armenian Genocide.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 21, as introduced, De León. Armenian Genocide.

This measure would designate and encourage the people of California to commemorate the month of April 2014, as “California Month of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923,” and would call upon the Congress and the President 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. The measure would commend conscientious educators who teach about human rights and genocide. The measure would call upon the President to work toward equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations and a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity, 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 1890’s, 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, 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 House Joint Resolution
148 adopted on April 8, 1975, and House Joint Resolution 247
adopted on September 10, 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 Senate Concurrent
Resolution 12 adopted on February 9, 1916, 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, This measure would declare that the Legislature
deplores the persistent, ongoing efforts by any person, in this
country or abroad, to deny the historical fact of the Armenian
Genocide; 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, 2013, the President of the United
States stated, “A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts
is in all of our interests. Nations grow stronger by acknowledging
and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building
a foundation for a more just and tolerant future”; 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;
now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature hereby designates the
month of April 2014, 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
Congress and the President 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 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 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 Secretary of the Senate 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.