Kim Kardashian raises awareness of Armenian genocide centenary: 'We are proud Armenians'

The Ottoman empire murdered 1.5 million Armenians in 1915

Kim Kardashian is in Yerevan, Armenia, in order to raise awareness of the 100th year since the massacre of the Armenian people that saw 1.5 million people murdered.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian are on a tour of Armenia to raise awareness of the 100th anniversary of the genocide that claimed the lives of 1.5 million people.

Their trip, which has almost taken on the nature of a state visit - has seen them meet the Prime Minister, Hovik Abrahamyan, and look at monuments in Yerevan, all while flanked by hysterical mobs of teens and paparazzi.

Describing her visit as the "journey of a lifetime", Kim Kardashian - who is of Armenian heritage - has praised her ancestral home.

"Hovik Abrahamyan hailed the fact that members of the Kardashian family never forgot their roots and added that their visit would make [Armenia] better recognizable," Public Radio of Armenia broadcast after the Kardashian sisters met the Prime Minister.

A government statement said: "The Kardashians apologised for not speaking Armenian but said they are learning their native language."

It added: "They pledged to continue the struggle for international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide."

Kim Kardashian has documented the trip on social media, and has been accompanied by her husband Kanye West and their daughter North.

In 1915, the Ottoman empire committed a holocaust against Armenian men, women and children.

Kim Kardashian has long been a strong voice to remember the massacre.

"I have been really passionate about getting people to acknowledge the Armenian genocide," she said in in 2012.

The Kardashian family escaped Armenia in 1913, before the genocide.

She has won plaudits from some of the most unlikely people for her work for the Armenian people.

"For all the flak people give Kim Kardashian, I could say that with her yearly commemorations of the Armenian genocide and spreading that word, she's been valuable. She's been great," Armenian-American Serj Tankian, System of a Down front man, told Rolling Stone.

It is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on 24 April.