Armenian community demonstrates outside Azerbaijan Consulate in West LA

Demonstrators took to the streets of Wilshire Boulevard, waving Armenian flags and holding protest signs.

Thursday, October 1, 2020
LA's Armenian community demonstrates outside Azerbaijan Consulate
Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday evening at the Azerbaijan Consulate General in the West Los Angeles area to protest what they call Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia and the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.

WEST LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Thousands of people gathered Wednesday evening at the Azerbaijan Consulate General in the West Los Angeles area to protest what they call Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia and the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.

Demonstrators were on Wilshire Boulevard, with several waving Armenian flags.

Violence in the disputed Artsakh region has flared up recently, with both sides blaming each other for resuming the attacks.

Heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the separatist region continued for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, with statements from both sides indicating that the flare-up of a decades-old conflict that has killed dozens of people since Sunday was no closer to an end.

The international community has urged both sides to reach a diplomatic resolution.

Close to a 1,000 demonstrators were at the protest in West L.A. Wednesday.

Los Angeles police was monitoring the situation.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to the largest population of Armenians in the world outside of Armenia.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.