HOUSE RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING APRIL 9, 2026, AS "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY" TO COMMEMORATE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915 TO 1923, AND IN HONOR OF ARMENIAN-AMERICANS

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N
PROCLAIMING APRIL 9, 2026, AS "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY" TO
COMMEMORATE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915 TO 1923, AND IN HONOR OF
ARMENIAN-AMERICANS

Introduced By:
Representatives Kazarian, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Corvese,
Chippendale, Potter, Paplauskas, Lima, Kennedy, and Ajello

Date Introduced:
April 09, 2026

Referred To:
House read and passed
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WHEREAS, The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman
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Empire from 1915 to 1923, and resulted in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of
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whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, and the remaining 500,000 survived but
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were expelled from their homes. This act succeeded in the elimination of the Armenians from
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their historic ancestral homeland where they had resided for over 2,500 years; and
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WHEREAS, On May 24, 1915, for the first time ever, the Allied Powers of England,
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France, and Russia, jointly issued a statement explicitly charging another government of
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committing "a crime against humanity"; and
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WHEREAS, This joint statement declared, "the Allied Governments announce publicly
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to the Sublime Porte that they will hold personally responsible for these crimes all members of
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the Ottoman Government, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres";
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and
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WHEREAS, United States Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr. explicitly described the
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policy of the Ottoman Empire's government to the United States Department of State as "a
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campaign of race extermination," and on July 16, 1915, was informed by United States Secretary
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of State Robert Lansing that the "Department approves your procedure . . . to stop Armenian
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persecution"; and
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WHEREAS, The post-World War I Turkish government indicted the top leaders involved
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in the organization and execution of the Armenian Genocide and in the "massacre and destruction

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of the Armenians," and in a series of court-martials, officials of the Young Turk regime were
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charged, tried and convicted, for organizing and executing massacres against the Armenian
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people; and
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WHEREAS, In 1948, the United Nations War Crimes Commission invoked the
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Armenian Genocide as "precisely . . . one of the types of acts which the modern term 'crimes
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against humanity' is intended to cover" as a precedent for the Nuremberg tribunals; and
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WHEREAS, The United States National Archives and Record Administration holds
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extensive and thorough documentation on the Armenian Genocide, especially in its holdings
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under Record Group 59 of the United States Department of State, files 867.00 and 867.40, which
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are open and widely available to the public and interested institutions; and
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WHEREAS, The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent federal
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agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the United States Holocaust Memorial
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Museum would include the Armenian Genocide in the museum and has since done so; and
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WHEREAS, When one enters the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, there is an
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exhibit depicting Adolf Hitler, who on ordering his military commanders to attack Poland without
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provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by stating "[w]ho, after all, speaks today of the
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annihilation of the Armenians?", thus setting the stage for the Holocaust; and
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WHEREAS, On April 24, 2021, United States President Joe Biden stated, "…we
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remember the lives of all those who have died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and
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recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring"; and
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WHEREAS, In 1918, after the fall of the Russian Empire, the Azerbaijan Democratic
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Republic and the First Republic of Armenia both declared independence; however, shortly
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thereafter, they became part of the Soviet Union. The modern Republic of Azerbaijan once again
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proclaimed its independence in August of 1991, shortly before the dissolution of the USSR.
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Within its borders, however, the predominantly Armenian enclave known as the Republic of
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Artsakh officially voted to become part of Armenia; and
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WHEREAS, Azerbaijan sought to suppress the separatist movement, while Armenia
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backed it. Turkey has close ties to Azerbaijan and was the first nation to recognize Azerbaijan's
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independence in 1991. In 1993, Turkey, in addition to engaging in numerous hostilities, shut its
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border with Armenia in support of Azerbaijan during the war over the Republic of Artsakh; and
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WHEREAS, In Turkey's continuing aggression and genocide of Armenians that began
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more than 100 years ago, the 2020 unprovoked war between Azerbaijan, with military support
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provided by Turkey, and the Republic of Artsakh resulted in Artsakh being forced to return many
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of the surrounding territories it had occupied for millennia; and

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WHEREAS, Beginning in May of 2021, Azerbaijan has been making armed incursions
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into, and taking lands within, Armenia's internationally recognized borders including in the
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Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces; and
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WHEREAS, In March through early April of 2022, following several days of escalated
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tensions, Azerbaijan’s military open fired on Armenian military posts along the western part of
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the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and days later, shelled various villages, mostly located along the
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eastern border of Artsakh; and
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WHEREAS, On January 1, 2024, when faced with the prospect of rule by Azerbaijan,
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more than one hundred thousand people, 80 percent of Nagorno-Karabakh's primarily Armenian
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population, fled to Armenia in one week; and
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WHEREAS, Most recently, Azerbaijan's President has stated that opening the Zangezur
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corridor, which is the Armenian territory separating Azerbaijan from its exclave, Nakhchivan, is a
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priority; and
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WHEREAS, In August of 2025, Armenia and Azerbaijan committed to establishing
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formal diplomatic relations through a peace agreement signed in Washinton, D.C., breaking over
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three decades of hostility. Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Joint Declaration on
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August 8, 2025, to end fighting, open transportation links, and initiate diplomatic relations; now,
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therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby
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recognizes April 9, 2026, as "Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day" in the State of Rhode
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Island; and be it further
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RESOLVED, That this House hereby respectfully requests the President of the United
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States and the United States Congress to call on the government of Turkey to face history and
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acknowledge this crime of genocide committed by the Ottoman Turks in 1915, and urge the
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Turkish government to make restitution for the loss of lives, confiscated properties, and general
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unlawful deportations, separating the indigenous population from their homeland; and be it
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further
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RESOLVED, That this House expresses its deepest sympathy to the Armenian-American
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community of Rhode Island and assures them that this genocide will always be commemorated
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and never forgotten; and be it further
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Donald Trump, President of the
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United States, the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation, the Governor of the State of Rhode
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Island, the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington, and the Armenian National

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Committee in Washington.
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