California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation last week commemorating the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region.

In his proclamation, Newsom noted the contemporary consequences of the Armenian Genocide in raising awareness about the cultural dispossession of the Genocide survivors from their historic homeland.

“The Armenian Genocide is one of the first modern genocides which resulted in the near annihilation of a people and the dispossession of the survivors from their cultural homeland and heritage,” the declaration reads. “The Republic of Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire under which the Genocide was committed, unjustifiably and adamantly denies the occurrence of this crime against humanity while actively continuing to remove traces of Armenian existence. This includes the neglect and intentional destruction of the thousands of remaining churches throughout the Armenian Highlands which make up today’s eastern Turkey.”

“We thank Lieutenant Governor Newsom for his leadership and the forthright manner in which he commemorated the Armenian Genocide through his proclamation,” said Andrew Kzirian, Chairman of the ANCA-WR. “Too often we forget this important legacy of the Genocide which is felt by the community to this day.”

Newsom has had a long track record regarding affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. As Mayor of San Francisco, he was a leading public advocate calling on Congress and the President numerous times to appropriately remember the Armenian Genocide as genocide. In his proclamation this year, he referred to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the world’s leading academic association in the field, which has repeatedly reaffirmed the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide.