Updated at 6:35 -.m., April 24, 2015
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hollywood and the mid-Wilshire area Friday, marching to the Turkish consulate to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The commemoration began with City Councilmen Mitch O’Farrell and Paul Krekorian, along with a host of other elected officials, including the bulk of the City Council and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, dedicating Armenian Genocide Memorial Square on the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue.
According to O’Farrell’s office, the marker will “show that the city of Los Angeles recognizes the history of the Armenian Genocide, as well as the impact the event had on the Armenian community.”
“One hundred years ago, the Ottoman Empire attempted to annihilate an entire race in the first genocide of the last century,” Schiff said. “When it was over, 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children lay dead and many thousands of others barely survived. Despite a brutal campaign of massacres, forced death marches, lootings and rape, the Young Turks failed to destroy the Armenian people as evidenced by the vibrant diaspora and Armenian nation.”
Following the dedication ceremony, a “March for Justice” was held, with a crowd estimated at anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 people moving through the streets of Hollywood to the Fairfax district and en route to the Turkish Consulate at 6300 Wilshire Blvd.
The march was largely peaceful, although by early afternoon, there were reports of small skirmishes outside the consulate, where a smaller group of Turkish supporters waved flags and held a rally of their own. Some Armenian demonstrators threw eggs and water bottles toward the Turkish protesters.
Los Angeles County is home to the largest population of Armenians in the United States, nearly 194,000 people, according to 2010 U.S. census estimates. About one-third of Glendale residents are of Armenian descent.
The genocide is commemorated April 24 because that was the day in 1915 that about 300 Armenian leaders were rounded up and deported or killed, and about 5,000 poor Armenians were killed in and around Istanbul.
On Thursday, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Krekorian and other leaders from around Los Angeles County planted a pomegranate tree on the City Hall lawn to mark the 100th anniversary.
Schiff and other elected officials had harsh words this week for President Barack Obama, who has not yet made good on a campaign pledge to officially recognize the killings as a “genocide.”
Krekorian — the first Armenian-American to be elected to Los Angeles city office — said it was “shameful” that the president and Congress “still again today have failed to tell Turkey, that ‘No, we do not accept your denial of accountability.”‘
Avoiding the use of the word “genocide” is seen as an effort by the White House to preserve chances of Turkish cooperation on Middle East conflicts, particularly in the civil war in Syria. Turkey is also one of the United States’ NATO allies.
The massive march snarled traffic for much of the day in Hollywood and the Fairfax District. Numerous streets and intersections were blocked throughout the area, and thousands of motorists were left scrambling for alternate routes, most of which were already jammed.