Belgium: Protesters gather at Turkish embassy on Armenian Genocide anniversary


Hundreds of Armenian protesters gathered in front of the Turkish embassy in Brussels on Wednesday, commemorating the 104th anniversary of the Armenian massacre.

Footage shows protesters draped in Armenian flags, holding banners demanding the Turkish state be held to account.

The Armenian Genocide took place in the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I, between the year 1915 and 1923. Commemorations have taken place every year since the 1920s, marking the date in 1915 when hundreds of Armenian intellectuals were arrested in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople, before being executed.

In the years that followed ethnic Armenians were displaced, deported or placed in concentration camps by Ottoman authorities. Between 600,000 and 1.8 million people are believed to have died during the period.