HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2017.03.15 - 22827Di
— CopPrfnissioTgr IL./({c„,
District #
•
MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION .#17064
BY: Commissioner Shelley Taub, District #12; Bill Dwyer, District #14; Nancy Quarles, District #17; Wade
Fleming, District #16; Hugh Crawford, District #9; and Marcia Gershenson, District #13
IN RE: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS - DESIGNATION OF APRIL 24, 2017 AS ARMENIAN
MARTYRS DAY IN OAKLAND COUNTY
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS in 1915, the leaders of the Young Turk Party of the Ottoman Empire undertook a brutal,
genocidal campaign of hatred against the people of Armenian descent; and
WHEREAS leaders of the Armenian people, including writers, thinkers, and professionals were rounded
up, deported, and killed in Constantinople or present-day Istanbul, Turkey; and
WHEREAS the horrific events that followed have been recognized by scholars, governments, and civil
society all over the world as the Armenian Genocide of World War I, when from 1915 through 1923, the
Young Turk leadership of the Ottoman Empire orchestrated the persecution and death of approximately
1.5 million of the 2.5 million Armenians then living in Anatolia or present-day Turkey; and
WHEREAS this tragedy must be recognize as an attempted genocide of the Armenian people that
inspired the horrific acts of others; and
WHEREAS the survivors of this massacre were forced from their homeland and scattered around the
world; and
WHEREAS more than 11,000 people of Armenian descent reside in Southeast Michigan and many call
Oakland County home; and
WHEREAS included among these many Armenian citizens are refugees, direct descendants and
relatives whose lives were touched by the genocide; and
WHEREAS April 24, 2017 has been designated by community and religious leaders as Armenian Martyr's
Day, a day of Memorial observance; and
WHEREAS even as we confront the inhumanity of 1915, we also are inspired by the remarkable spirit,
strength, tenacity and courage of the Armenian people and their contributions which have enriched our
communities , spurred our economy, and strengthened our democracy; and
WHEREAS the Oakland County Board of Commissioners desires to join in this observance to
commemorate the victims of these crimes against humanity and express our desire that these horrors are
never forgotten.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners does hereby
declare April 24, 2017, and each subsequent anniversary, in perpetuity, to be Armenian Martyrs' Day in
Oakland County.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland County Clerk is requested to forward copies of this
adopted resolution to the Armenian Embassy in Washington, DC, St. John's Armenian Church of
Southfield and the Armenian National Committee.
Chairperson, I move the adoption of the foregoing resolution.
Commissioner Bill Dwyer
District #14
Commissioner Wade FleMing
Di ri t #16
CIALAk
Comm ssioner Marda/Gershenson
District #13
cmtzifik
Commissioner
District #
(tOrNmissioner
District*
Commis ione
District # 24
Commissioner
District #
CoMmissi6ner
District #
Commissioner
District #
Commissioner
District #
Commissioner Commissioner
District # District #
Commissioner Commissioner
District # District #
Commissioner Commissioner
District # District #
Resolution #17064 March 15, 2017
The Chairperson referred the resolution to the General Government Committee. There were no
objections.