Over 1000 people gathered in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 evening.

The rally began at 19.15 pm and lasted about half an hour under the motto “No to racism”. As a source in Istanbul told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, the participants, Armenians among them, were sitting on the ground as a sign of protest. Some of the demonstrators were holding photos of Hrant Dink, the slain editor of Agos Armenian-Turkish newspaper.

Meanwhile, representatives of Turkish opposition party Halk Kurtulush Partisi, or HKP (People’s Liberation Party), occupied the center of the square with posters reading “Armenian Genocide is a lie”.

Police officers with batons made up a chain between the two groups to prevent clashes.