Kim K. West: Armenian genocide victims ‘Should Never Be Forgotten’

On April 24, 1915, in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, governmental authorities rounded up 250 Armenians in what is now known as Istanbul.

The prisoners were later executed. While there is no official tally of how many Armenians were eventually murdered by the Ottoman government, the general consensus is that between 500,000 and 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the three years that followed.

One hundred years later, Kim Kardashian, the world’s most famous Armenian — sorry, Michael Vartan — has made it her mission to make sure those who lost their lives are not forgotten.

The word genocide was actually coined to describe what happened to the Armenian people between 1915 and 1918, yet the Armenian Genocide has not been formally acknowledged by most world governments, including the U.S.

This is because the Turkish government (a NATO ally) rejects the use of the word. In marking the anniversary, President Obama made the decision not use the word “genocide,” in deference to the Turkish government.

It’s a direct reversal of a promise he made to Armenian-Americans in 2007 during his first presidential campaign to finally acknowledge what had happened to their ancestors.

Kim Kardashian traveled to Armenia for the first time with her sister Khloé, husband Kanye West, their daughter, North, and two of her cousins earlier this month.

In addition to visiting a memorial for the victims of the genocide, the Kardashian kavalkade met with the Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan. The sisters were given a plot of land in the country as well.

On Twitter, Kardashian also linked to a video by Katie Couric, explaining the history of the Armenian Genocide: