City of Irvine Declares April 24th Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

May 21, 2020

Irvine, California- The City of Irvine has declared April 24^th, 2020 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day thanks to the efforts of Mayor Christina Shea, Irvine City Council, and ANCA Orange County Chapter. ANCA-OC has been in frequent communication with the city of Irvine addressing the needs of the Armenian-American community, including the importance of annual commemoration and condemnation of denial of this international crime against humanity. Mayor Christina Shea has always been available to listen and meet with the ANCA-OC Board and community members to address those needs and issues.

“The Armenian National Committee of America-Orange County chapter would like to thank the City of Irvine and Mayor Christina Shea for their work to honor and commemorate the Armenian Genocide,” remarked Armen Garabedian, Chair of the ANCA OC chapter. “On the 105^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we welcome this proclamation as a testament to truth and an act to honor the victims and their families. We look forward to continuing to work with the City of Irvine and Mayor Christina Shea in addressing and advancing the Armenian American community’s cause for justice.”

The Proclamation reads as follows:

Whereas, the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the death of Christians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Armenian men, women, and children who were murdered or marched to their deaths; and

Whereas, these crimes against humanity also had the consequence of deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, removing all traces of the Armenians and other targeted people from their historic homelands, and enriching the opposing side with the lands and property of the victims; and

Whereas, the United States is on record of having officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, when on April 22, 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in Proclamation 4838 said, “Like the genocide of the Armenian’s before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it-and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples-the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten”; and

Whereas, the citizens of Irivine and the Armenians throughout the world are commemorating and recognizing the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Now, Therefore, the City Council of the City of Irvine Does Hereby Proclaim April 24, 2020 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Orange County Chapter is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in Orange County, working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the United States to advance the concerns of the community on a broad range of issues.