On Saturday, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. leader to recognize the mass killing of Armenians in the early 1900s as a “genocide.” Saturday marks the annual Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923.
Lawmakers, activists and celebrities have been pushing for this recognition. Kim Kardashian, who visited the Armenian Genocide Museum, and is of Armenian descent through her late father Robert Kardashian Sr., has long spoken out for recognition of the atrocities.
In 2010, on the 100th anniversary of the genocide, Kardashian wrote that “we won't give up” in her push for awareness.
“I am saddened that still 100 years later not everyone has recognized that 1.5 million people were murdered,” Kardashian said at the time. “But proud of the fact that I see change and am happy many people have started to recognize this genocide! We won't give up, we will be recognized by all soon!”
Khloé Kardashian thanked Biden for recognizing the genocide on social media.
“In 1915, over 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered and tortured. Thank you President Biden for recognizing the genocide that happened 106 years ago,” she wrote on her Instagram Story Saturday. “Thank you for honoring the stories, the pain, suffering and loss of the Armenian people. Today we honor our ancestors on Armenian Remembrance Day.”
