CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Shifting locations marked yet another event Sunday afternoon, October 31, by the greater Boston Armenian community in its support of the Republic of Artsakh and its month-long defense against an invasion by Azerbaijan supported by Turkey. This time the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Young Professionals of Boston, joined by Armenian Youth Federation Greater Boston Nejdeh Chapter and Armenian Church Youth Organization of America of St. James Armenian Church of Watertown, hosted “Demonstrate to Educate” at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where its message was delivered directly to people in the streets.
Demonstrators lined John F. Kennedy Street at the corner with Mount Auburn Street at Winthrop Square Park waving flags and informational posters while others showed posters with QR Codes to vehicle occupants and answered questions, and many handed out information cards with bullet point information and links to human rights websites.
Cambridge residents and visitors were friendly and open to their Armenian friends and neighbors and often stopped to talk and take pictures and learn about the human rights violations by Azerbaijan in the Artsakh Republic. There was a solid presence by the Cambridge Police Department protecting the demonstrators in case Azerbaijani or other thugs who earlier in the summer threatened members of the Armenian Youth Federation holding folk dances for Artsakh nearby, would show up again.
While today’s actions were mostly visual, there was a period of chanting slogans of accusation against Azerbaijan and Turkey, resistance to the attacks on Armenians, and calls for the recognition and independence of the Republic of Artsakh by the world. There were a minimum of 125 demonstrators present, whose numbers may have increased slightly during the two-hour event.
