Justice

Kim Kardashian Calls out the Wall Street Journal Over Armenian Genocide Denial Ad

September 19th 2016

The Kardashian clan has never been shy about showing pride in their Armenian heritage.

So, it should probably come as no surprise that Kim Kardashian issued a strong rebuke to the Wall Street Journal for running an advertisement by a group that denies the Armenian Genocide in April.

In a full-page ad published by The New York Times on Saturday, Kardashian called the Journal's decision "reckless, upsetting, and dangerous.

The Turkic Platform, the group that paid for the Journal ad, rejects the idea that the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 — which was carried out by the Ottoman government — constitutes "genocide," The New York Daily News reported. Turkey has a long history of Armenian genocide denial, despite the fact that the European Parliament has called on Turkey to accept its role in the mass killings of ethnic Armenians.

In April, WSJ responded to criticism of the ad by stating that the paper accepts "a wide range of advertisements, including those with provocative viewpoints."

But Kardashian was having none of that. She wrote:

“Advocating the denial of a genocide by the country responsible for it — that’s not publishing a ‘provocative viewpoint,’ that’s spreading lies. It’s totally morally irresponsible and, most of all, it’s dangerous. If this had been an ad denying the Holocaust, or pushing some 9/11 conspiracy theory, would it have made it to print?”

Kardashian's comments are part of a much larger international debate. The United States has yet to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, a silence that is often attributed to U.S. officials' unwillingness to upset a strategic ally in the Middle East. As ThinkProgress reported, Turkey has previously severed military ties to countries such as France that blame it for the genocide.

Given recent rumblings from Turkish officials about a NATO-departure over a perceived lack of support from the United States following a failed coup-attempt by Turkish military members, it is unlikely that the United States will recognize the Armenian Genocide any time soon.

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