On March 31, 2013, as a result of the annual awareness campaign by the Pax Turcica Institute, the U.S. State of Iowa legislators, Representative David Jacoby (D-30th) and Senator Robert Dvorsky (D-15th), issued a certificate of recognition commemorating the 95th anniversary of genocide, also known as March Days of 1918 or the Azerbaijani Genocide. The proclamation signed by both legislators was presented to the representative of Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) in Iowa, Dr. Agshin Taghiyev.
From March 30 to April 3, 1918, armed groups of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnak Party) with support of Soviet Bolsheviks massacred over 20,000 Azerbaijanis and other Muslims in the city of Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan. March Days were part of a larger campaign of extermination carried out by Armenian nationalists seeking to create a mono-ethnic state in Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus. These atrocities resulted in deaths and deportations of over 2.5 million Turks, Azeris, Kurds and other Muslims in early 20th century.
In March 2012, New York became the first state ever to recognize Azerbaijani Genocide at a legislative level by Senate Resolution 3784 that designated March 31 as the Azerbaijani Remembrance Day. On March 22, 2013, New Jersey General Assembly recognized the Azerbaijani Genocide by another commemorative resolution.
Iowa legislators recognize 31 March genocide
04 April 2013
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Iowa state legislators recognize the 96th anniversary of 31 March genocide of Azerbaijanis and the Azerbaijani remembrance Day
