Ramkavar Party: The U.S. Congress unlikely to adopt Armenian Genocide resolution

March 3, 2010 - 18:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - " U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs can give a positive opinion over the on the Armenian Genocide resolution, but I do not think that the U.S. Congress will adopt it," Harutyun Arakelyan, charman of the Board of Ramkavar Armenian Democratic Liberal party told a press conference in Yerevan.

According to Harutyunyan, the U.S. is unlikely to go against the huge investment in the Turkish economy. " At the moment the U.S. uses the issue of genocide to leverage pressure on Turkey, and nothing depends on Armenia, " he said.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.