April 24, 2020

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Proclamation

WHEREAS,from 1915 through 1923, the indigenous Armenian people were subjected to deliberate destruction and loss of their families, properties, community centers, and sacred sites of their ancestral homeland at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during the “First Modern Genocide”; and

WHEREAS,the Armenian Genocide began with the mass arrest and extrajudicial execution of hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders on April 24, 1915 and continued with the systematic killings of 1.5 million unarmed men, women, and children; and

WHEREAS,the State of Colorado has formally recognized the Armenian Genocide and institutionalized its memory and legacy through the Colorado State Capitol Armenian Memorial Garden; and

WHEREAS,Coloradans of Armenian descent have greatly distributed to the State of Colorado through arts, business, education, media, sciences, and sports; and

WHEREAS,the State of Colorado joins our vibrant Armenian American community in its annual, and for the first time virtual, observance of the Armenian Genocide to raise awareness of the unconscionable tragedy so that we may better understand the importance of eliminating hatred within our own communities;

Therefore, I, Jared Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2020 as,

COLORADO REMEMBRANCE DAY FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

in the State of Colorado. GIVEN under my hand and the Executive Seal of the State of Colorado, this twenty-fourth day of April, 2020

Jared Polis

Governor