Today the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives was going to discuss the Armenian Genocide Resolution 252.
The discussions were going to start at 7 p.m. Yerevan time and were to be followed by a vote. The resolution will be adopted if 24 out of 46 committee members vote for it.
Head of "Heritage" party's faction Armen Martirosyan is certain that the resolution will be adopted, but had difficulty saying whether it would become a topic of discussion for the Congress.
Is Armenian Genocide recognition in the interest of the US? In response, Martirosyan said: I think the establishment of historical justice is in the interest of all countries."
Deputy of the Republican faction Edward Sharmazanov is also optimistic. "I think this issue is clear for the American society and the political elite. Out of 50 states, 42 have recognized the Armenian Genocide and many presidents have pronounced the word "genocide". The issue is more on U.S.-Turkey relations because they are currently multi-layered and problematic. I obviously expect approval."
Sharmazanov said that it would be naive for political figures to think that the approval or disapproval of the resolution would condition Armenia's relations with the US.
"There is room for development of Armenian-American relations and I am in favor of active development. If Turkey delays the ratification of the Protocols and creates artificial obstacles, the intermediary countries will use their levers to pressure Turkey and bring it down to its knees. I think this resolution is one of those levers," said Sharmazanov.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has adopted such resolutions in 2000, 2005 and 2007. Although those resolutions were greatly supported in Congress, they were not put up for a vote in the plenary session of the House of Representatives.
