The Watertown Town Council passed a proclamation that not only recognized the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, but also rebuked the Turkish government for denying that the events in 1915 were a genocide. April 24, 2015 has been declared Armenian Martyr’s Day to mark the anniversary of the genocide, in which more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed. The Council’s proclamation, passed unanimously at their meeting on April 14, not only recognized the anniversary but also said that the Turkish government’s denial that the events were a genocide “deprives the Armenian people of a right to their history, reparations for their losses, and a return of their ancestral Armenian lands.” The entire proclamation is below:
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS: The first genocide of the twentieth century occurred in Armenia on April 24, 1915, where the systematic and deliberate extermination of more than one and one half million Armenians was carried out; in addition to the deportation of countless others; and,
WHEREAS: One Hundred Years ago, Armenians were forced to witness the premeditated murders of their families and the loss of their homeland; and,
WHEREAS: The truth and facts that the Armenian Genocide actually occurred continues to be denied to this day by the Turkish government, which deprives the Armenian people of a right to their history, reparations for their losses, and a return of their ancestral Armenian lands; and,
WHEREAS: On April 24, 2015, we will proclaim and recognize the anniversary of Armenian Martyr’s Day to remember this horrific event and its victims;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Council of the City known as the Town of Watertown, hereby commemorates and remembers the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015 and requests the Citizens of Watertown to give due observance of this day
