Armenians mourn victims of 1915 slaughter

YEREVAN, Armenia — Hundreds of thousands of Armenians laid flowers Saturday at a monument to the victims of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, marking the 95th anniversary of the start of the slaughter. President Barack Obama called it "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century."

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Residents of Yerevan and other regions and representatives of the Armenian diaspora marched to a monument on a hill overlooking the capital. Some carried placards such as "Nobody and nothing will be forgotten!" and "Genocide never gets old!"

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian described the slaughter as "unprecedented in its scope, monstrosity and graveness of its consequences" in an address to the nation.

In Asheville, N.C., where Obama was spending the weekend, he marked Armenian Remembrance Day by issuing a statement saying, "The indomitable spirit of the Armenian people is a lasting triumph over those who set out to destroy them."

In Paris, about 1,000 people — led by famous French crooner Charles Aznavour, who is Armenia's permanent delegate to UNESCO — took part in a commemoration which climaxed at the Arc de Triomph, at the top of Champs-Elysees Avenue.

The slaying began on April 24, 1915, with the rounding up of about 800 Armenian intellectuals, who were murdered. The Ottoman authorities then evicted Armenians from their homes in actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of the Armenian population. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of the 20th century.

"We are grateful to all those in many countries, including Turkey, who understand the importance of averting crimes against humanity," Sarkisian said.

Turkey has warned the U.S. administration of diplomatic consequences if it fails to prevent the passage of a congressional resolution that would brand the killings of Armenians genocide. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representative's last month passed a resolution declaring the killings genocide, but it is unclear if the full House will vote on it.

Countries recognizing the killings as genocide include Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Canada, Lebanon, Belgium, Greece, Italy, the Vatican, France, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and Cyprus.