LOS ANGELES – Weekend vigils, marches and demonstrations were held across the Los Angeles area to commemorate the killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago.
Hundreds rallied Sunday afternoon outside the Turkish Consulate just hours after a procession marched through the Little Armenia neighborhood.
Demonstrators carrying banners reading "Never Again" and "Turkey Must Pay" were met at the consulate by a small number of counter-protesters kept by police behind a barrier. There were no immediate reports of any arrests.
A vigil was held Saturday outside City Hall in neighboring Glendale, home to a large number of Armenian-Americans. There was also a special observance at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello, California.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed starting in April 1915. Turkey denies the killings were genocide and contends those who died were victims of civil war and unrest. Turkey also insists the death toll has been inflated.
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