Kim Kardashian West expressed disappointment in President Obama last week regarding his refusal to classify the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide.
The reality star voiced her opinion in an op-ed for Time Magazine, and discussed the pride she feels in her Armenian heritage.
"My great-great-grandparents came from Armenia to Los Angeles in 1914, right before the genocide happened," she explained. "We have no existing family left in Armenia... When we grew up, all my father did was talk about our heritage."
Robert Kardashian, Kim's father, passed away from esophageal cancer in 2003. In her essay, Kim recounted growing up eating Armenian food, and her father's insistence that they never change their last names. She said that remembering the Armenian genocide was also essential in honouring her heritage.
"I will continue to ask the questions and fight for the genocide to be recognised for what it was," she said.
One hundred years ago, Turkey killed and drove out the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to exterminate the religious minority. The Turkish government denies that the killings were genocide, and Western allies have been hesitant to classify the massacre as such.
Kardashian said it is time that the country's dark past is confronted.
"I would like President Obama to use the word 'genocide,'" she wrote. "It's very disappointing he hasn't used it as President.
"It's time for Turkey to recognize [the genocide]," she added. "I believe in moving on and looking toward a brighter future, but you can't move on unless you acknowledge the past. To not do so is an act of disrespect."
Kardashian and some members of her family, including her husband Kanye West, visited Armenia earlier this month, and included a visit to the Armenian Genocide memorial complex.
