/Cbs2.com/ Thousands of Armenian-Americans took to the streets of Beverly Hills to protest the visit of Armenia's president. The community is upset that Pres. Serzh Sargsyan is normalizing relations with Turkey, a country that reportedly does not recognize the Armenian genocide.

The demonstrators gathered at 3 p.m. Sunday outside the Beverly Hills Hilton where Sargsyan was visiting.

They said they want Sargsyan to pull back from an agreement to establish diplomatic ties with Turkey and reopen the common borders.

Turkey has set a precondition to the agreement that their country would not have to acknowledge the Armenian genocide occurred and would instead leave the matter in the hands of a commission that would evaluate the history between the two countries.

"We are all for open borders and open diplomatic relations with Turkey," said Armenian National Committee of America member Stepan Boyajian, adding, "But it can only happen with no preconditions...for the dialogue to move forward."

The Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1918 claimed the lives of about 1.2 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern republic of Turkey, though the Turkish government disputes that the genocide took place.

Turkey disputes the number of those killed and argues that Armenians were equally brutal in slaying Turks when they revolted against their Ottoman rulers and aligned themselves with invading Russian troops.

Thousands of protesters also rallied Sept. 27 in Glendale against the proposed protocols.

They object to the commission, saying it undermines the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the international community. They also object to Armenia accepting Turkey's present borders, which would preclude future territorial claims by Armenians.

 

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