Pelosi Statement on the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Contact: Ashley Etienne/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

San Francisco – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement in remembrance of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide:

"Today marks 102 years since the first acts of the Armenian Genocide. In the years that followed, the leaders of the Ottoman Empire would carry out the murder of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children.

"Too often, the truth of these horrific events has been denied, yet the historical record is clear. We must not dishonor the memory of those murdered, or the pain of families who survived, by refusing to call the calculated, widespread extermination of the Armenians what it was.

"If we ignore the atrocities of the past, then we are destined to repeat them. On this somber day, commemorating both the devastation of the Armenian Genocide and the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, we reaffirm our commitment to carry forward the stories of the dead. We must stand up for the truth, and renew our solemn pledge: never again."

# # #