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Glendale proclaims April 2025 Armenian Genocide Remembrance and Armenian Heritage Month
Summary
The City of Glendale read and adopted a mayoral proclamation recognizing April 2025 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance and Armenian Heritage Month and announced related community commemorations; community leaders accepted the proclamation and invited the public to multiple April events.
Glendale Mayor Elena Satherian proclaimed April 2025 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance and Armenian Heritage Month at the City Council meeting on April 1, 2025.
The proclamation, read at council chambers, states that Glendale is "proud to be home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia" and recalls the 1915 genocide in which the proclamation text says "1,500,000 Armenians" were killed. It also cites more recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh in 2020 and 2023 and calls for U.S. action to secure the release of Armenian prisoners of war described in the proclamation as unlawfully detained.
The mayor read the declaration aloud and invited members of the local Armenian community to accept it. Gary Kanjian, introducing himself as co-chair of the Armenian Genocide Committee, thanked the council: "We are very proud to be a part of this great city as a community, part of the community, and thank you for everybody to the city council, city departments, and the whole city employees that they are making this city a great city to live to." Community leaders also announced local events tied to the remembrance: community organizers referenced April 24 commemorations (a morning event in Montebello at 10 a.m. and a 5:30 p.m. ‘‘Demand for Justice’’ rally at City Hall) and the city’s own commemoration planned for Monday evening, April 21, 2025, at the Alex Theatre at 6 p.m.
The proclamation text submitted into the record includes statements urging residents to "stand with Armenian people in remembrance, in resistance, and in celebration" and called on the federal government "to use every measure available to secure the immediate and unconditional release" of prisoners taken during recent conflicts.
The item was ceremonial and required no council vote beyond acceptance of the proclamation; several council members and community members spoke briefly in support and provided logistical details for April events.
Community members who accepted the proclamation included representatives of the Armenian Genocide Committee and affiliated groups; the mayor and council noted the city-coordinated change in the timing of the city’s commemoration so it would not conflict with other community events.
The proclamation and accompanying remarks emphasized remembrance, cultural celebration, and calls for international accountability for wartime abuses.
