Political Quotes

“Mr. President, each year we commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. April 24 came during our recess this year and marked the 96th anniversary of the date in 1915 when Turkish Ottoman authorities ordered the rounding up and detention of hundreds of Armenian intellectual leaders, civic leaders, writers, priests, teachers, and doctors. Many of these leaders would eventually be executed. What followed between 1915 and 1923 was an organized campaign of deportation, expropriation, conscription, starvation, and other atrocities that resulted in the deaths of over 1.5 million Armenians. Large numbers of Armenians fled their homeland to seek safety elsewhere, including in Michigan and other communities in the United States. We remember the tragic events of this period to honor those who died and to show our respect and solace for those who survived the suffering inflicted on the Armenian people. We also remember the Armenian Genocide to remind ourselves of the evil which mankind is capable of and to reaffirm our collective commitment to a future in which such mass atrocities will not be repeated.…”