ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TRAVELING TO WASHINGTON IN SUPPORT OF GENOCIDE BILL

mentary-delegation-traveling-to-washington-in-supp ort-of-genocide-bill/
Mar 2nd, 2010
Yerevan

A delegation of Armenian parliament members will leave for Washington
DC on Wednesday in an apparent effort to facilitate the passage of
the Armenian Genocide resolution.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is
scheduled to discuss and vote on the proposed legislation on Thursday.

It urges President Barack Obama to "accurately characterize the
systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as
genocide."

The delegation comprises: Artak Zakaryan of the Republican Party, Armen
Melikyan of Prosperous Armenia, Vahan Hovhannesian of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation and Koryun Nahapetyan a non-affiliated member
of parliament.

The four parliamentarians will arrive in Washington at the invitation
of Frank Pallone and Mark Kirk, the two U.S. lawmakers co-chairing
the congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. The bipartisan group,
currently numbering 150 House members, has long been pushing for
Armenian Genocide recognition.

RFE/RL reported Tuesday that Pallone and Kirk asked their Armenian
colleagues to "present their views on and approaches to issues of
mutual interest" to U.S. legislators and foreign policy-makers. The
genocide resolution will be the main focus of their meetings in
Washington.

A similar delegation of Turkish parliamentarians is already in
Washington, meeting with U.S. officials and lobbying against the
resolution.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress