CHICAGO (AP) - Chicagoans of Armenian descent and others have rallied to commemorate the deaths 100 years ago of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks and to call for U.S. recognition that it was genocide.
WBBM-TV reports (https://cbsloc.al/1z1Sutv ) the crowd gathered on Daley Plaza before marching to the Turkish consulate in the city.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says a U.S. president must use the words Armenians and genocide in the same sentence. He says President Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged the killing of 1.5 million people but he and former presidents have stopped short of using the word genocide. He says “that key word is important so that we can bring honesty to history.”
Modern Turkey, the successor to the Ottoman Empire, has vehemently denied the genocide charge.
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Information from: WBBM-TV, https://www.cbs2chicago.com
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