Tens of thousands of demonstrators protested outside the Turkish Consulate in Beverly Hills on Sunday afternoon in a show of solidarity with Armenians battling with neighboring Azerbaijan, Los Angeles Times reports.
The crowd was estimated at 35,000 people, at its height stretching down Wilshire Boulevard from Fairfax Avenue to La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Hills Police Lt. Todd Withers said. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Station later tweeted that the crowd had reached 100,000.
Protesters were joined by Members of Congress.
“Today I was honored to stand in solidarity with the thousands who gathered at the March For Victory in Los Angeles to condemn Azeri and Turkish aggression against Artsakh and Armenia, “Rep. Brad Sherman said in a Twitter post.
Rep. Adam Schiff called on the US government to recognize Artsakh.
Since fighting broke out in the region Sept. 27, thousands of Armenian Americans and supporters have taken to the streets of Los Angeles to protest the hostilities more than 7,000 miles away, blocking major freeways and demanding that politicians back their cause. Some have left to fight on the front for their homeland or aid in the humanitarian side of the war effort.
Since fighting broke out in the region Sept. 27, thousands of Armenian Americans and supporters have taken to the streets of Los Angeles to protest the hostilities more than 7,000 miles away, blocking major freeways and demanding that politicians back their cause. Some have left to fight on the front for their homeland or aid in the humanitarian side of the war effort.
The demonstrators have focused their opposition on Turkey, which has expressed support for Azerbaijan, in part because of the two nations’ strong ethnic ties.
The demonstration arrives amid a fraying Russian-brokered cease-fire between the two countries, which has not been observed, preventing the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to organize the exchange of bodies and prisoners.
