PROVIDENCE. – Mayor of Turkey’s Diyarbakir Sur Municipality Abdullah Demirbaş on Thursday placed flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island, USA, The Armenian Weekly reports.

Speaking at the memorial, Demirbaş said, “We bow in memory of all those who lost their lives.”

Kurds had a role in the massacres of 1915, Demirbaş noted. He stressed the importance of confronting the past. He called on the Turkish state to apologize and make amends.

“Asking for forgiveness is a sign of maturity,” he concluded.

The mayor was accompanied by members of the Kurdish and Armenian communities of New England.

To note, last month, Demirbaş apologized in the name of Kurds for the Armenian and Assyrian “massacre and deportations” during the official inauguration of the Monument of Common Conscience.

“We will continue our struggle to secure atonement and compensation for them,” he added.