YEREVAN (Tert.am), April 14–Howard Berman, the chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced efforts by his colleagues in the Turkish Caucus to question the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide, rejecting the flawed national security and economic arguments put forth by these legislators to block the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.252) by the full US House of Representatives, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a strongly worded response to a Congressional Turkish Caucus letter urging Nancy Pelosi to block floor consideration of the measure, Berman took “strong exception” to their references to the “so-called Armenian Genocide Resolution,” stating that the assertion, “flies in the face of the overwhelming weight of unimpeachable historical evidence and the virtually unanimous opinion of genocide scholars.”

Berman also rejected the flawed national security arguments against the Armenian Genocide Resolution, stating, “I believe that US-Turkish security relations are founded on mutual interests and that Turkey is not about to discard the immense benefits it derives from bilateral security relations for the sake of ‘punishing’ the US for a non-binding resolution, however much it may resent that resolution.”

The chairman also disputed the effect of Congressional genocide affirmation on Turkey-Armenia relations, arguing that the Turkey-Armenia protocols “have been gathering dust in the Turkish Parliament” due to Turkish preconditions on the process.

The chairman’s letter coincides with bilateral meetings held between President Barack Obama and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, and also between Sarkisian and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Both foreign leaders were in Washington this week as part of a major multilateral nuclear summit.

Photo caption: Howard Berman