Tens of thousands marched through Beverly Hills in support of Armenia on Sunday.
The event, Artsakh Under Attack: March for Victory, kicked off around 3:30 p.m. local time at Pan Pacific Park with a route set to end at the Turkish Consulate on Wilshire. As a regional NBC outlet points out, Los Angeles County boasts the country's largest population of Armenian immigrants. Several protests have been organized in the county in recent days in response to the current conflict in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) region.
In an open letter shared earlier this month, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti—alongside mayors of other cities and several senators—urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to "lead the effort" in bringing Armenia and Azerbaijan to negotiations while also working to encourage Turkey to disengage.
"Each year in our cities, we honor the 1.5 million lives stolen in the Armenian Genocide," the letter stated. "We recall the horrors of the past so we will not repeat them. We remember Armenia’s proud history as an early crossroads of Christian faith, theology, and thought. We reaffirm our commitment to peace, and we share the fierce determination of the Armenian people to build a better, brighter, safer future in their new democracy."
In an update shared to Twitter later Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire division said they had estimated that the crowd from the day's protest had "reached 100,000."
Money is also being raised to send back to Armenia and Artsakh, with the weekend's reports including word that Kim Kardashian West had contributed a $1 million donation. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have accused the other of violating a cease-fire deal.
