Glendale Schools Close for Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day as L.A. County Honors a Legacy of Survival and Struggle

By Jason Agu

Los Angeles, CA — Schools across Glendale are closed today as communities throughout Los Angeles County commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marking the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915. The day is being observed with solemn remembrance, cultural pride, and renewed calls for justice amid ongoing violence in the Armenian homeland.

In 2022, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally recognized April 24 as a county holiday, deepening the region’s historic ties with its large Armenian-American population. April is also celebrated as Armenian History Month in county libraries, and institutions such as the Natural History Museum are showcasing exhibits honoring Armenian heritage.

A Day of Memory and Protest

This year’s commemoration unfolds against the backdrop of a humanitarian crisis in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), where Armenians have faced escalating violence over the past five years. In 2023, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands after a military offensive and blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan—cutting off food, medicine, and essential supplies to over 120,000 civilians.

International human rights organizations have documented war crimes, desecration of religious sites, and abuse of political prisoners, yet the global response remains muted. Many Armenians view today’s remembrance as a powerful moment not just to reflect on past atrocities but to spotlight ongoing ones.

Justice Deferred, Voices Raised

On Thursday afternoon, demonstrators will gather in Beverly Hills outside the Turkish Consulate, a location where anti-Armenian propaganda has been posted in recent years. Later in the evening, a “Demand for Justice” rally will be held at Parcher Plaza in Glendale, organized by local community leaders and advocacy groups.

On Saturday, the observance continues with a symbolic unity hike at Grand Park, under the powerful motto: “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”

Echoes of Denial and Corruption

In a scandal that still reverberates, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted in 2023 on charges that included accepting bribes from Turkish officials in exchange for political favors—including allegedly ignoring Armenian Genocide commemorations. Federal investigators revealed that a Turkish official had “repeatedly” demanded Adams avoid public statements recognizing the genocide.

Such revelations underscore what many Armenians see as an ongoing campaign of historical denial and political manipulation orchestrated by Turkey, the modern successor to the Ottoman Empire. The genocide, carried out from 1915 to 1923, remains unrecognized by Turkey, which continues to suppress acknowledgment of its past.

As Los Angeles marks Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, it does so not just in memory of those lost more than a century ago, but in solidarity with those still fighting for dignity, truth, and survival today.