LOS ANGELES (AP) — The red, blue and orange of Armenia’s flag flew on the streets of Los Angeles on Wednesday as marchers remembered the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in what is regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century.
A crowd rallied in LA’s Little Armenia district before proceeding down Hollywood Boulevard. Another march was scheduled to culminate with a protest outside the consulate of Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, which oversaw the mass deportations and massacres of Armenians.
The large Armenian community in the Los Angeles area has been marking Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day since long before President Joe Biden in 2021 became the first U.S. president to use the word “genocide” to describe the campaign of violence.
The White House had avoided using the term for fear of alienating Turkey, a NATO ally that denies there was a genocide.
Biden repeated the term Wednesday in a statement that recounted the start of the “campaign of cruelty” on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders.
Air Rwanda: Which airline will deport migrants on a one
Feature: Australian winemaker looks to go deep into Chinese market
NE China ports handle record high China
Record Qingming holiday box office heats up for May Day moviegoing frenzy
Car dealership to cut 250 jobs and close 16 sites just months after being taken over by a US firm
Dubois, Roy end long goal droughts to propel Kings to 3
NE China ports handle record high China
Infographic: What we need to know about COP28
A look at the Gaza war protests that have emerged on US college campuses
Lionel Messi scores fifth goal and has an assist in Inter Miami's 3