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H8567
2026 -- H 8567
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LC006457
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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 MAY 19TH OF 2026 AS "GREEK AND PONTIC GENOCIDE
REMEMBRANCE DAY" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
Introduced By:
Representatives Solomon, Blazejewski, Kazarian, Chippendale,
Paplauskas, Casey, Kennedy, Ajello, Hopkins, and Shallcross Smith
Date Introduced:
May 19, 2026
Referred To:
House read and passed
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WHEREAS, Rhode Island is proud to be the home of numerous ethnic communities,
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many of whom have prospered and enjoyed the freedom and democracy upon which our nation
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was founded; tragically, throughout history, the people of many countries have not realized the
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same autonomy and equality; and
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WHEREAS, From 1913 until 1923, in a systematic attempt to exterminate the entire
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Greek population in Pontus, Smyrna, Asia Minor, and Eastern Thrace of the Ottoman Empire
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took place. The Ottoman Turks directed the killing of 353,000 Pontian and over one million
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Anatolian and Asia Minor Greeks and over a million Armenians and 300,000 Assyrians living in
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Pontos, and Mesopotamia and an equal number who were forced to flee their homeland in one of
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the most condemnable atrocities in the history of the world; and
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WHEREAS, The Ottoman and Kemals Neo Turks engaged in forced relocation, death
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marches, starvation, slaughter, rape, forced conversion to Islam, conscription into labor
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battalions, arbitrary executions, and destruction of Christian Orthodox cultural, historical and
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religious monuments to ethnically cleanse the Greek population and perpetrate the first mass
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genocide of the 20th century. Furthermore, the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried
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out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, and resulted in the deportation of nearly
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2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed along with the
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mass killing and deportation of Assyrians during the same period, and the remaining 500,000
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survived but were expelled from their homes; and
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WHEREAS, It is vital and proper to remember those who lost their lives in the Greek
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Genocide, and it is paramount that people of all nations look at this horrific event in our world’s
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not-so-distant history as a way to learn a valuable lesson, in order that such atrocities are not
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tolerated and are never committed again; and
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WHEREAS, It is likewise important to pay tribute to the survivors of this atrocious
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period, as well as their descendants, who have made countless contributions to the enrichment of
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our culture and our way of life here in the Ocean State and who stand as an inspiration to
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oppressed people around the world; and
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WHEREAS, The year 2026 will be memorialized throughout the world as the symbolic
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107th Anniversary of the Genocide of the Pontian Greeks. May we never forget the brutality the
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Pontian Greeks experienced at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and may we learn the hard
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lessons from the past in order that the history of the Greek Genocide, and all Genocides, never
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happen again; now, therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby
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joins the Greek-American community on May 19th of each year in a solemn commemoration of
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the Greek and Pontic Genocide of 1913-1923; 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 Miltiadis Tsavdaridis, President of the Pan-
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Pontian Federation of the USA and Canada.
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