Whereas, With the passage of Public Act 58 of 2002, the State of Michigan has legally recognized that the Armenian Genocide occurred from 1915 to 1923. Beginning on April 24, 1915, Armenians, as well as Greeks, Assyrian-Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians, were subject to torture, starvation, mass murder, lethal human medical experimentation, and exile from their historic homeland. Over 1.5 million men, women and children lost their lives. The Armenian Genocide represented a deliberate attempt by the Ottoman Empire to eliminate all traces of an ancient, thriving, and noble civilization that had lived in these regions for millennia; and
Whereas, The majority of the Armenian population was displaced from their homes and forced to escape neighboring and faraway communities and countries, many refugees fled to the United States. Today, Michigan is honored to be home to a vibrant Armenian American population of more than 17,000 Michiganders. This thriving community is a proud reminder of survival and perseverance in the face of extreme injustice; and
Whereas, Michigan Armenian American churches and community organization have organized numerous charity and community drives across the state, including, but not limited to, providing college scholarships for deserving students and serving Armenian refugee communities across the state; and
Whereas, In 2015, on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Church canonized the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in the Armenian Genocide as saints–holy martyrs who died for their faith and homeland; and
Whereas, The Honorable Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led protests by officials of many countries against what he described as the empire’s “campaign of race extermination”; and
Whereas, Both houses of the 116th Congress of the United States voted overwhelmingly to commemorate and recognize the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide, reject efforts to associate the United States government with those that deny the existence of the Armenian Genocide or any genocide, and encourage education and public understanding about the Armenian Genocide and the importance of preventing modern-day atrocities and war crimes; and
Whereas, In 1981, President Ronald W. Reagan became the first President to refer to the atrocities against the Armenians as a genocide; and
Whereas, As one of the world’s first modern genocides, the Armenian Genocide has served as a model for other mass atrocities across the past century, including, but not limited to, the Holocaust, the genocide of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge, the Rwandan Genocide, the Bosnian Genocide, the genocide of the Yazidis by the Islamic State, and the Rohingya Genocide; and
Whereas, Some governments, such as those of the Republic of Turkey and Republic of Azerbaijan, continue to deny the occurrence of the Armenian Genocide or the involvement of the Ottoman government in its planning or execution, and erase Armenian cultural heritage sites. These governments continue to engage in what is commonly referred to as the tenth stage of genocide, denial, further inflicting this heinous, cruel act on Armenians and Armenian-Americans; and
Whereas, By recognizing and consistently remembering the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and all cases of past and ongoing genocide, we help to protect historic memory, ensure that similar atrocities do not occur again, and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution, and tyranny. The Armenian community of Michigan has used its deep understanding of historic pain and dispersal to stand constantly and consistently alongside other persecuted communities in Michigan and around the world; and
Whereas, Armenian, Assyrian-Chaldean, Greek, Syriac, Aramean, and Maronite communities around the world commemorate the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2026. On this day, we honor the holy martyrs of the Armenian Church who were killed during the Genocide, the survivors of the Genocide and their descendants, and reaffirm our commitment to preventing future atrocities from being committed against any people; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare April 24, 2026 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
Co-sponsored by Reps.
