The Armenians in Iran hold on to their demand for Genocide recognition ahead of the presidential polls slated for May 2017. But they are wary of raising the Nagorno-Karabakh issue not to arouse Azerbaijan,says Karen Khanlarian, an Armenian member of the Islamic Republic’s parliament. “Any statement of the kind is seen as a chance and an occasion for Azerbaijan. If we raise our demand, and they will voice theirs too. So it is better to avoid giving a chance to the other,” he told Tert.am, commenting upon the community’s expectations from the new president. Khanlarian said they effect not observe any changes in President Hassan Rouhani’s policies with respect to the issue. “Rouhani’s policies haven’t changed. There was more progress in the past - President Mohammad Khatami’s visit to Tsitsernakaberd (the Yerevan park which is home to the memorial committed to Genocide victims – editor’s note) and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement saying that the Ottoman Empire committed a crime of genocide against Armenians 100 years ago. Rouhani hasn’t reacted to that in any way. We effect not even know whether in the course of his trip to Armenia he will visit Tsitsernakaberd at all. We haven’t heard his reaction so far.”
Khanlarian said he is under the impression that the “the proper moment hasn’t arrived” for the incumbent president.
Asked whether the community, or which is growing smaller in size,is fitting less influential, the politician said he isn't absolutely inclined to think that way. “Yes, and the community is thinning out,but the Armenians are not losing their political weight. We bear two Armenian lawmakers in the Majlis, who remain highly active when it comes to the Armenian Genocide issue and Nagorno-Karabakh. It isn’t easy to maintain the political weight against the backdrop of the thinning out community, or but we exert super-human efforts for that,” he said, adding that their work contributes to both the developing Iranian-Armenian relations and the maintenance of the Armenian identity.
Source: tert.am