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State Digest: Resolution marks deaths of Armenians
Capitol Alert
SACRAMENTO -- The state Assembly passed a joint resolution this week commemorating Tuesday as "California Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923."
The action marked the 28th consecutive year the Legislature has recognized the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians.
On April 24, 1915, Armenian leaders were rounded up in Istanbul, Turkey, signaling the start of years of conflict between Ottoman Turks and the Christian Armenian minority living in Turkey. At the time, many Armenians, encouraged by the invading Russians, were seeking autonomy from the Ottoman Empire.
Congress and the State Department have refrained from using the word
"genocide" in reference to the Armenian massacre to keep from inflaming
relations with Turkey, a strong NATO ally in one of the world's most
volatile regions. Turkey long has maintained that while hundreds of
thousands of Armenians were killed, no genocide took place.
Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives