The City of Fresno will hold a private flag raising ceremony and observe a moment of silence on Wednesday to show solidarity with Armenia amidst the current warfare in the Nagorno-Karabakh territory with Azerbaijan.
Mayor Lee Brand and City Council President Miguel Arias will host the ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m.
“I stand with our beloved Armenian community, and I’m proud to join the growing voices of local, state and federal leaders to condemn the violence taking place in the region of Artsakh,” Brand said in a statement. “We must do everything we can to urge for a swift end to this conflict and bring peace to the Armenian people.”
Arias added, “We want our Armenian community to know that their city stands with them in urging our national and world leaders to take action and stop the violent attacks on innocent Armenian civilians. Armenians are part of Fresno’s rich diversity, and when one part of the community hurts, all of us feel the pain. We stand in solidarity with our Armenian community.”
Along with Brand and Arias, councilmembers Luis Chavez and Mike Karbassi will be present, as well as Berj Apkarian – Fresno Honorary Consul for the Republic of Armenia – and members of the local Armenian clergy.
Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the City is livestreaming the ceremony on its Facebook page, and on TV through Comcast Xfinity Channel 96 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 or at cmac.tv/gov.
