After President Joe Biden formally declared the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century as “genocide", local Armenian's reacted to the news.
"It just validates the pain and anguish and suffering that our families went through as survivors of the genocide," said Beth Broussalian as it's very personal for her.
"My grandparents were victims of the genocide and survivors. My husband's grandparents are survivors. And we have grown up with stories about the massacre," she said.
It's her motivation behind her long-time activism in the Armenian community. Honoring and remembering more than a million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire Forces during World War I.
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The White House had avoided using the term genocide for decades for fear of alienating Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East.
"Turkey has two U.S. American bases, so Turkey has played a very important military strategic role in U.S. military strategy and actions for a very long time," she said.
President Biden making good on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide on its 106th anniversary.
"We've been waiting decades for the United States to officially recognize the Armenian genocide as genocide," she said.
Levon Parsegov, a deacon from Cardiff, in Los Angeles Saturday, rallying outside the Turkish consulate.
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"[I feel] excitement, but at the same time, we have our eyes on the prize and that prize is global recognition and acknowledgment," he said.
After Biden's announcement, Turkish officials struck back immediately.
“We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the U.S. regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that “words cannot change history or rewrite it" and Turkey “completely rejected” Biden’s statement.
