April 16, 1990

STATE OF MICHIGAN

GOVERNOR JAMES J. BLANCHARD

Hereby issues this Executive Declaration
in Observance of

APRIL 24, 1990

AS

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

From as early as 189 B.C., when Armenian won its independence from Seleucid rule, the Armenian people have strived for political and religious freedoms and economic prosperity. Throughout their history they have endured harsh persecution and intolerance at the hands of those who would deny them.

The culmination of this intolerance began in 1915 with the institution of the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the governments of the Ottoman Empire. It is estimated that by 1923, a total of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children had been massacred and 500,000 survivors had been deported.

In Michigan, and particularly in the Metropolitan Detroit area where over 50,000 citizens of Armenian descent reside, this time is observed as the Day of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man. During this period of remembrance, it is important to recommit ourselves to the highest principles of human rights in memory of the victims of this atrocity.

Therefore, I, James J. Blanchard, Governor of the State of Michigan, do hereby declare April 24, 1990 as ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY in Michigan. I urge all citizens to recognize this observance by remembering the countless Armenian martyrs whose lives were lost during this dark time and to join me in commemorating this important observance.

Given under my hand on this sixteenth day of April in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and ninety and of the Commonwealth one hundred and fifty-four.

(SIGNED)
James J. Blanchard
GOVERNOR