The Armenian parliament's standing committee on foreign relations has approved a statement condemning the genocide perpetrated in August 2014 against the Yezidi people living in the north of Iraq.

According to committee chief Armen Ashotyan, such issues are important from humanitarian, legal and political aspects.

"Being a nation that has survived the Genocide, we very well understand the grief of the Yezidi people," Ashotyan said in a Facebook post.

Lawmakers Rustam Makhmudyan and Vahram Baghdasaryan are going to submit an amended version of the statement.

The initiative was earlier backed by a handful of current and former members of the National Assembly.