Azernews.Az

The British House of Lords has started hearings on the alleged Ottoman-era genocide of Armenians. The debate "On 1915-17 events in Armenia" was included in the agenda on the proposal of Baroness Caroline Cox.
Cox claimed while addressing the legislature that denying the alleged genocide facilitates the culprits’ going unpunished. The baroness alleged that dismissing the "genocide" contributes to what she called the perpetration of ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Azerbaijan’s Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh region and the perishing of the whole Armenian civlization. Cox also believes that the 1915 alleged mass killings had been masterminded beforehand.
Upper Garabagh is an Azeri region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about a million Azeris out of their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
Some speakers opposed Cox’s statement, warning that tabling historical issues in the legislature could be detrimental to Turkey’s relations with both Armenia and Britain. The lawmakers who dismissed the allegations suggested discussing not the "genocide", but the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
The bill has to be adopted by the House of Lords and then endorsed by the Queen of England to become law.
Early in March, the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed a resolution on the Armenian "genocide" claims, despite calls by the Obama administration not to offend Turkey, a NATO ally. The decision is not final, as the bill has to be approved by the full House.
Armenians residing in the Anatolia region fought against the Ottoman army in support of Russia during World War I. In an effort to end the stand-off, the Ottoman government decided to resettle the Armenians to other parts of the country in 1915. Armenians claim their forefathers were subjected to "genocide" in the process, while Ankara dismisses the claims and has offered conducting joint historical research.*