First ever April 24 commemoration ceremony held in Istanbul

More than 200 people gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday evening to honor the Armenians who died during the Genocide by Ottoman Turkey in 1915, Hurriyet reports.

About 75 intellectuals and 200 supporters attended the demonstration, which was organized by Initiative to Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism.

The event on Saturday was overseen by almost a thousand police officers, who were called to secure the area because of threats received from nationalist circles.

A counter-demonstration that numbered in the dozens was stopped by a police barricade. The group booed the other gatherers, who clapped in return.

The demonstration was silent during the commemoration in Taksim Square, where they lit candles and threw flowers in the air. But the protesters began to chant — "The brotherhood of Armenians, Turks and Kurds" and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism" — as they marched down İstiklal Avenue.

They dispersed a few hundred meters later.