World News | Los Angeles’ Greater Armenian Community Commemorates Genocide Remembrance Day

LOS ANGELES, April 25 (AP) — Southern California commemorates the killing and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman troops in the early 1900s on Monday, home to a large Armenian-American community that until recently was able to celebrate U.S. recognition Systemic oppression is genocide.

Large rallies and marches were held in the Los Angeles area to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day well before 2021, when President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to use the term “genocide” to describe the violent movement.

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For decades, the White House avoided using the term for fear of alienating Turkey, the heir to the Ottoman Empire and a NATO ally. The Turkish government strongly objected to Biden’s use of the term.

Biden issued a statement on Monday reiterating his pledge to never forget.

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“On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople—the beginning of a systematic campaign of violence against the Armenian community.

In the years that followed, 1.5 million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to death — a tragedy that forever affected generations of Armenian families,” Biden said.

It is estimated that more than 200,000 people of Armenian descent live in Los Angeles County, and April is designated as Armenian History Month.

The suburban city of Glendale is the center of the community, and a small part of Los Angeles known as Little Armenia, where crowds gathered on Hollywood Boulevard on Monday.

Traditional annual commemorations on or around the day include a protest outside the Turkish consulate in Beverly Hills and a ceremony at the towering Armenian Genocide Martyrs Memorial on the hilltop in the suburb of Montebello.

The Glendale and Los Angeles school districts closed schools Monday to mark the day.

Last week, the Los Angeles District Board of Education voted to include a checkbox for Armenia on the U.S. Census questionnaire so officials can better serve the population. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)