PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images AirTalk | April 26, 2021 Armenian Americans celebrated the news Saturday that President Joe Biden formally declared the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of their ancestors by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 1900s to be “genocide,” saying the recognition was long overdue. His action came after decades of activism, most of which was centered in California, home of the largest Armenian community in the nation. “He's the first American president to have the guts to talk about it. I never understood why the U.S. waited this long when they knew the truth about what happened. It's amazing and I'm very happy he did what he did,” said Varoujan Kioudjian, 74. He was among hundreds of people who streamed to a hilltop monument in Montebello, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, to mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.