The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region welcomed the introduction of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 96, introduced by California Assembly Member Felipe Fuentes (CA-AD-39-D-Arleta), Asbarez reported.
The resolution commemorates the massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad (present-day Ganja), and Baku, Azerbaijan on the anniversary of the massacre in Sumgait (February 1988) and calls on the legislature to remember the victims of massacres and oppression of Armenians in Azerbaijan, many of whom barely survived the atrocities and ended up as refugees in the United States, including California.
“I am honored to lead the State Assembly in commemorating the massacre of Armenians in Azerbaijan nearly 25 years ago,” said Fuentes. “The Armenian people have demonstrated throughout history that they are true survivors. They have faced persecution and genocide and yet they have once again flourished and have become an integral part of our community in California. We stand together today to acknowledge the atrocities of the past so that we do not repeat them in the future.”
The resolution, which should be adopted before the anniversary, on February 27, of the Sumgait massacres, provides the broader context of the issue and how the massacres were part of the widespread, anti-democratic backlash faced by the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh when they voted for independence when the Soviet Union fell.
“This resolution resonates both from the American and Armenian perspective. As a country founded on the principle of self-determination by people seeking a better life and often escaping persecution in the ‘Old World,’ the United States and its history is an inspiration to the Armenians of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh,” said Armen Garabedian, chairman of the ANCA-WR’s California State Affairs committee. “It has become a safe haven and home for those fleeing the massacres in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku as well as an inspiration to those who stayed behind to shape a more secure and democratic future there.”
