Protests Over Artsakh Conflict Continue

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Police were diverting eastbound traffic on Wilshire Boulevard as protests continued in response to the conflict over the Republic of Artsakh at Wilshire and La Cienega boulevards, the Beverly Hills Police Department reports.

There are about 1.5 million American Armenians. Los Angeles is home to a large Armenian and diaspora community, with many descendants of the Armenian Genocide living in the Southland.

Over the last several weeks, locals have protested a decades-long ongoing conflict between former Soviet Republics Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabkh, a disputed mountain area that is known as culturally Armenian.

Turkey and Russia have been drawn into the conflict, with ethnic Armenian people fleeing the area. Many are the family members of people killed in the genocide.

Turkey has long denied the Armenian Genocide, a top point of contention that remains part of the conflict today.

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The conflict came to a brief pause on Saturday, after both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Russia. But it did not last. Soon after, however, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shelling a town in southeastern Armenia, while Azerbaijan claimed Armenian forces did the same in Azeri territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh, the capitol of the republic of Artsakh, is a ghost town Friday morning following the shells and sirens, with much of the population dispersed across the region, Al Jazeera reports.

- City News Service and Patch Editors Nicole Charky and Kenan Draughorne contributed to this report.

Editor's Note: This story was updated with the location of the protests.

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