Armenians Protest for Disputed Region
Protesters staged demonstrations Friday in Westwood and Northridge to demand autonomy for Armenian nationals in the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, authorities said.
An estimated 1,200 people met at the Federal Building in Westwood and a smaller group gathered at Cal State Northridge to criticize what they called Soviet suppression of Armenia, which is trying to annex the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The region is predominantly Armenian but belongs to the mostly Muslim republic of Azerbaijan.
Friday’s protests coincided with arms control discussions between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze in Wyoming and with a special session of the Soviet Central Committee in Moscow. The session was called to address the problem of Armenian unrest.
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