Trenton – The Senate advanced a resolution today that would recognize the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during and following the end of World War I. The resolution is sponsored by Senator Joseph Lagana.

 

“Over 100 years after the genocide began in 1915, the Armenian community still grapples with the effects of the horrific acts of violence committed by the Ottoman Empire. Millions of Armenians faced displacement, starvation, persecution and death,” said Senator Joseph Lagana (D-Bergen/Passaic). “Today, we stand by our Armenian-American neighbors by calling those events what they were: a genocide. By acknowledging this truth, and by condemning human rights violations happening today, we make it clear that this tragic history cannot be allowed to repeat itself.”

 

The resolution, SCR-71, also condemns the attacks by Azerbaijan against civilians in the ethnically Armenian-majority region of Nagorno-Karabakh during the armed conflict in the fall of 2020.

 

This past April, President Biden announced the United States would officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. The genocide occurred from 1915 through 1923.

 

The resolution was released from the Senate by a vote of 36-0.