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Assembly of Turkish American Associations (5 September 2022)

Urgent Action Alert

Urge California Governor Newsom to VETO AB 1801

Dear Turkish American Community and Friends of Turkey:

On August 24, California Senate passed ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1801 (AB 1801), introduced by California Assembly member Adrin Nazarian.

This bill would add April 24, known as “Genocide Remembrance Day,” to the list of state holidays and would authorize community colleges and public schools to close on April 24, known as “Genocide Remembrance Day,” as specified.

Under California law, Governor Newsom has the ability to veto AB 1801.

Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) is urging all Turkish Americans and friends of Turkey to send letters, faxes, and emails to Governor Newsom in order to urge him to veto AB 1801.

Please communicate to Governor Newsom and his staff today and get your voice heard!

Please copy/paste and send your sample letter using the email form link below:

Web contact form: https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail

Please choose subject: AB01801\State holidays: Genocide Remembrance Day

Please copy/paste and send your sample letter to the email addresses listed below:

Please type subject: AB01801\State holidays: Genocide Remembrance Day

Jim DeBoo, Executive Secretary, jim.deboo@gov.ca.gov

David Sapp, Chief Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary, david.sapp@gov.ca.gov

Sample Letter 1

Date:

The Honorable Gavin Newsom

Governor, State of California

1021 O Street, Suite 9000

Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: VETO Request - AB01801\State holidays: Genocide Remembrance Day

Dear Governor Newsom:

I am writing to express my strong opposition to AB 1801, which would add April 24, known as “Genocide Remembrance Day,” to the list of state holidays and authorize community colleges and public schools to close on April 24.

This bill would prejudice and damage the objective and truthful study and understanding of the Ottoman Armenian tragedy by accepting only the Armenian side of the story.

The perpetuation of a one-sided and deliberately gruesome “Armenian Genocide” allegation has provoked a chilling level of violence in the United States by Armenians against Turks and Turkish Americans. Scores have died; many have been injured, while academics and scholars have been repeatedly threatened when they state anything that does not support the Armenian viewpoint.

Turkish Americans have never denied the suffering of both Turks and Armenians during this turbulent period in history. However, this bill ignores the 2.5 million Ottoman Muslims who were killed during the intercommunal warfare during this period while it portrays the Armenian side of events as so called 'Armenian Genocide'. I believe that historians, not politicians, should judge this matter. The California State Assembly is not a historical commission that can make a judgment on this highly controversial and emotional issue.

As a concerned member of the Turkish American community, I feel extremely concerned about this politically motivated effort to tarnish the historical truth and memory of my Turkish ancestors.

For all these reasons, I respectfully request that you veto AB 1801.

Thank you for your attention to my concerns.

Sincerely,

Name

Address

Sample Letter 2

Date:

The Honorable Gavin Newsom

Governor, State of California

1021 O Street, Suite 9000

Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: AB01801\State holidays: Genocide Remembrance Day – VETO

Dear Governor Newsom:

I am writing to express my strong concerns with to AB 1801, which would add April 24, known as “Genocide Remembrance Day,” to the list of state holidays and authorize community colleges and public schools to close on April 24.

This bill would place an inappropriate financial burden to the State of California. Analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office for the ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS notes that by adding a new state holiday would create significant general fund cost pressures, likely in the millions of dollars, to create negotiable paid holiday for eligible state workers and significant reimbursable mandate costs to the extent school districts need to adjust their calendars and summer work hours, resulting in local bargaining implications for their classified employees.

This bill ignores the facts and the law. Genocide is defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, to which the United States is a party, and which therefore binds the 50 states under the Supremacy Clause. In 1985, the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights considered a report that referred to the Armenian case as genocide, but did not accept it. In 2001 and 2007, the UN declared that it had not accepted the Armenian case as genocide. In 2015, The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Turks have the right to deny that a massacre of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire’s rule in 1915 was a genocide and the decision should be left to historians or a competent court and should not be made by politicians.

For the reasons stated above, I respectfully urge that you VETO AB 1801.

Sincerely,

Name

Address