Kim Kardashian spoke out about the Armenian genocide in recognition of the 102nd anniversary of the mass killings.
The reality TV show star, who is half Armenian on her father’s side, tweeted out a statement on Monday.
“Thinking of Armenians everywhere. 102 yrs ago, Ottoman authorities began a slaughter that would kill 1.5m,” she wrote.
Thinking of Armenians everywhere. 102 yrs ago, Ottoman authorities began a slaughter that would kill 1.5m. #ArmenianGenocide #NeverForget ??
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) April 24, 2017
April 24 marks the anniversary of the day in 1915 when the Ottoman Turks began the eradication of 1.5 million Armenians. Both Turkey and the U.S. have denied the killings were an orchestrated genocide.
On Monday, President Donald Trump recognized the anniversary, but declined to call it a genocide.
“Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire,” Trump wrote in a statement issued on Monday. “I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many.”
Kardashian has long been outspoken in regards to Armenian genocide deniers. She previously wrote a letter in April 2016 on her app in regards to a Wall Street Journal decision to run an advertisement funded by deniers. The letter was then run as an ad in the New York Times. She wrote in part:
“Many historians believe that if Turkey had been held responsible for the Armenian genocide, and reprimanded for what they did, the Holocaust may not have happened. In 1939, a week before the Nazi invasion of Poland, Hitler said, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” We do. We must. We must talk about it until it is recognized by our government because when we deny our past, we endanger our future. When we allow ourselves to be silenced by money, by fear and by power, we teach our children that truth is irrelevant. We have to be responsible for the message we pass on to our children. We have to honor the TRUTH in our history so that we protect their future. We have to do better than this.”
Other Kardashian sisters spoke out in commemoration of the anniversary. Khloe Kardashian posted a photo from the Kardashian’s trip to Armenia in 2015 with a long note about the power of speaking out against the genocide.
“I am proud to be an Armenian!!! It is our duty to not be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation no matter their race or creed,” she wrote.
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