Armenian members of the Iranian parliament are to ask the assembly to recognize Turkey's 1915-17 "genocide" of Armenians, the centrist daily Entekhab reported Wednesday.
The two representatives of Iran's more than 200,000 citizens of Armenian origin want the Iranian parliament to follow similar moves elsewhere, notably in the European parliament.
"The genocide of Armenians by Turkey is an undeniable fact which has been recognized by an important number of states throughout the world," MP Leon Davidian told Entekhab.
A similar resolution by the Iranian parliament is likely to create further difficulties between Tehran and Ankara, which is criticised by Iran for its close ties with Israel.
Armenians claim that some 1.5 million of their number resident in Turkey were killed in an act of genocide during World War I. Ankara categorically rejects the claims as a distortion of history, saying that some 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in internal fighting during the death throes of the Ottoman Empire.
Italian deputies and French senators have also backed the Armenian cause in recent votes, as has Pope John-Paul II, though a bill branding the killings as genocide was dropped from the agenda of the US House of Representatives after pressure by President Bill Clinton – TEHRAN (AFP)
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