LOS ANGELES >> Tens of thousands of people jammed city streets Monday to mark the 102nd anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide, calling for recognition and remembrance of the mass killings of more than a million people.

Marchers filled streets, waiving the orange, blue and red flag of Armenia, as they walked from Pan Pacific Park on Beverly Boulevard to the consulate on Wilshire Boulevard, where large crowds, including dozens of Turkish-Americans, had already formed. Just hours before, they converged near Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue in Little Armenia, clogging Hollywood Boulevard for several blocks and leading to traffic nightmares for morning commuters who were met with closed streets.

“We are speaking up for people who don’t have a voice now,” said Vreg Isaghoulian, 52, who said he brought his family to the Wilshire rally to teach them about their history, pride in their culture, and to stand up for justice. “This is what our ancestors (endured) as native inhabitants. They were conquered by force.”

The Armenian genocide began in 1915 and resulted in the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in a campaign blamed on the Ottoman Turkish government. While the genocide has been chronicled by historians, who often view it as having been ethnic cleansing, Turkey — a NATO ally — has denied it occurred, saying the deaths of Armenians was a function of the chaos of World War I, which also claimed Turkish lives.

More than 200,000 people of Armenian descent live in Los Angeles County, making the Southland home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, and Rep. Dave Trott, R-Michigan, last month introduced a resolution asking Congress to formally recognize the genocide.

Monday’s march, which resulted in at least five arrests, was countered by a smaller group of Turkish-Americans outside the consulate as a plane circled overhead with the Turkish flag in tow. The reasons for the arrest were pending.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogans, tried to strike a conciliatory tone Monday in a letter to the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul posted on the L.A. Turkish Consulate’s Twitter feed.

“I once again pay tribute to the memories of the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives in the beginning of the 20th century,” he wrote. “May millions of Ottoman citizens deceased under the difficult conditions of the First World War rest in peace.”

President Trump also chimed in on Monday, continuing a yearslong tradition of U.S. presidents refusing to use the word “genocide” to describe the events as he issued a statement proclaiming Monday as Armenian Remembrance Day.

“Today we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century,” Trump said. “Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many.”

Trump’s statement was met with a quick reply from Schiff, whose congressional district includes large populations of Armenian-Americans.

Schiff, who wore a purple “March for Justice” T-shirt chastised the current and past presidents for not speaking out against the Turkish government and recognizing the genocide.

“That won’t deter us … not for one day, not for one hour, not for one minute … until our objective is heard,” said Schiff, who was joined by leaders in the Armenian community and elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Do you hear us President Trump?”

For Nora Hovsepian, the chairwoman of the Armenian National Committee, Western Division, Monday’s gathering was personal.

Her paternal grandmother was a survivor.

She was 9 at the time when she and her mother, aunt and about 15 other children jumped into the Euphrates River after Turkish rebels came into their village and killed all the men.

“My grandmother held onto a weeping willow tree branch,” said Hovsepian, “President Trump is caving in and allowing the Turkish government to dictate what America’s foreign policy should be when no foreign government should be allowed to put a gag rule on the truth and on what 45 out of 50 states has recognized as a genocide and on United States’ history of rescuing hundreds and thousands of survivors of the Armenian genocide through a massive nationwide philanthropic rescue initiative called Near East Relief.”

She said the Armenian people will never give up until Turkey admits its role in the genocide.