| 3 | 2 | | |
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| 4 | 3 | | |
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| 5 | 4 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 6 | 5 | | WHEREAS, During World War I, the crumbling Ottoman Empire |
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| 7 | 6 | | began a systematic campaign to eradicate its Armenian population, |
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| 8 | 7 | | which then numbered more than two million; and |
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| 9 | 8 | | WHEREAS, Armenians and other minority populations had |
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| 10 | 9 | | contributed to the prosperity of the once-mighty empire for |
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| 11 | 10 | | centuries, but as its borders shrank and its influence diminished, |
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| 12 | 11 | | ethnic tensions flared; after the Ottomans entered World War I, |
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| 13 | 12 | | their armies suffered heavy losses to Russian forces in the |
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| 14 | 13 | | Caucasus, and Armenians in the region were accused of aiding the |
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| 15 | 14 | | Russian victory; on April 24, 1915, the government arrested several |
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| 16 | 15 | | hundred Armenian intellectuals, who were later executed; Armenian |
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| 17 | 16 | | soldiers were disarmed and transferred to labor battalions, in |
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| 18 | 17 | | which they were worked to death or killed outright; and |
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| 19 | 18 | | WHEREAS, In the spring and summer of 1915, under the guise of |
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| 20 | 19 | | "resettlement," Armenians were driven from their homes in Armenia |
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| 21 | 20 | | and Anatolia and herded through the Syrian desert to concentration |
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| 22 | 21 | | camps; many of the deportees died along the way from hunger, thirst, |
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| 23 | 22 | | and exhaustion, while others were massacred; by 1918, an estimated |
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| 24 | 23 | | one million Armenians had lost their lives, and survivors endured |
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| 25 | 24 | | tremendous hardships as refugees; and |
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| 26 | 25 | | WHEREAS, The end of the war brought a temporary respite, but |
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| 27 | 26 | | in 1920, the atrocities resumed until the ultimate collapse of the |
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| 28 | 27 | | empire and formation of the Republic of Turkey; as many as 1.5 |
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| 29 | 28 | | million Armenians perished and today, only 3 million live in |
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| 30 | 29 | | Armenia, a country that covers no more than 10 percent of the |
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| 31 | 30 | | ancient Armenian homeland, while the Armenian diaspora numbers 8 to |
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| 32 | 31 | | 10 million in countries around the world, including the United |
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| 33 | 32 | | States; and |
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| 34 | 33 | | WHEREAS, In 1915, the governments of France, Great Britain, |
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| 35 | 34 | | and Russia decried the slaughter of Armenians as "a crime against |
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| 36 | 35 | | humanity"; American ambassador Henry Morgenthau, who led the |
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| 37 | 36 | | humanitarian response, characterized the imperial deportation |
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| 38 | 37 | | orders as "the death warrant to a whole race"; the persecution is |
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| 39 | 38 | | considered genocide by most historians and has been officially |
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| 40 | 39 | | acknowledged as such by numerous countries, among them France, |
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| 41 | 40 | | Argentina, Greece, and Russia; this horrific event is a dark |
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| 42 | 41 | | chapter in modern history, and the world must never forget the |
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| 43 | 42 | | suffering of the Armenian people; now, therefore, be it |
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| 44 | 43 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 45 | 44 | | Legislature hereby recognize the Armenian genocide. |
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