Demonstrations held in Washington to mark 1915 events

By Servet Gunerigok </p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – A group of Turks and Armenians held demonstrations Wednesday in front of the Turkish embassy’s residence in Washington to mark the 104th anniversary of the events of 1915. </p> <p>Turkish Americans waved Turkish flags and displayed posters reading &quot;We remember victims of Armenian terror&quot;, &quot;Armenia, open your achieves! What are you hiding?&quot; and &quot;Stop Armenian aggression on Azerbaijan&quot; while Armenians held banners and chanted against Turkey over the so-called &quot;Armenian genocide&quot;. </p> <p>During the demonstrations, which ended without incident under intense security, D.C. metropolitan police and secret service officers had to warn some demonstrators to stay in the designated areas. </p> <p>&quot;Terrorist Yerevan, stop lying Armenia,&quot; chanted demonstrators against their rival counterparts, accompanied by Turkish songs. </p> <p>Also, names of Turkish diplomats assassinated by Armenian terrorists across the world were read out. </p> <p>Later, the demonstrators sang the Turkish national anthem. </p> <p>Cihangir Aktas, a Turkish student from Boston, came to Washington to join the demonstration. He said he was against Armenia’s lies.</p> <p> “I am here for solidarity with people,” he told Anadolu Agency. </p> <p>Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties. </p> <p>Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as &quot;genocide&quot; but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties. </p> <p>Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to tackle the issue. </p> <p>