“A horrific new chapter in human suffering began 105 years ago when the Ottoman government launched the systematic deportation and extermination of Armenians.
“No one was spared. More than one million people – men and women, children and the elderly – were slaughtered outright or died from forced marches and disease. This mass murder was accompanied by robbery, rape and starvation on a massive scale.
“Genocide has deeply scarred the Armenian people. It is imperative that we, and all free peoples, preserve the memory of the atrocities inflicted on them.
“To all Albertans of Armenian descent, we join you in profound grief for the families destroyed and the history lost. Like you, we will not forget. Like you, we will bear witness.”