100th anniversary of Armenian genocide remembered in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- Thousands of people marched in Los Angeles on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, an eight year campaign in which a million and a half Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey.

Marchers walked six miles to the Turkish consulate, where they demanded the Turkish government recognize the slaughter as a genocide."

A solemn commemoration was help at san Francisco City Hall Friday, one of hundreds if not thousands around the world.

Elise Kanzanjian spent part of Friday afternoon at St. John Armenian Church.

"The lesson we need to learn is to live with each other and love each other," she said.

The genesis, was an invasion by the Ottoman Turkish Empire 100 years ago, which led to the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians. The Turkish government has never acknowledged what happened. The world has mostly forgotten.

This year, Armenians set out to change that.

"Every single Armenian was touched by that event and until today we continue to be touched," said Father Mesrop Ash of St. John Armenian Church.

They remember it in the photographs of those who came before them, and in the stories of survivors who scattered around the world. They remember it in the faces of every genocide victim since them. Armenians warned the world that to forget is to ignore.