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 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two recent insurance settlements for descendants of Armenians killed 90 years ago by the Turkish Ottoman Empire are a first step toward international recognition that the bloodshed was an act of genocide, the Armenian pontiff Catholicos Aram I said Sunday.
Aram I, on a two-week visit to Southern California, home to the largest Armenian community outside the southwestern Asian country, said the financial settlements could help prod Turkey and Turkish allies to declare the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in eastern Turkey a genocide.
"The settlements will be helpful in raising awareness," Aram I told The Associated Press in an interview. "If we are committed to preventing future genocide in the world, the world must recognize the genocide that has happened."
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