“Placing profit over human rights, the Chief Executive Officers of five top defense firms have urged Congress to block a measure calling for U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide,” Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reports.

“Lobbying against genocide recognition for financial gain is morally reprehensible – whether it's the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust or the ongoing genocide in Darfur,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The CEO's of Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, United Technologies and Northrop Grumman should be ashamed of themselves – trampling on the memory of 1.5 million men, women and children to justify their salaries,” the source reads.

"In a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, just days before his Committee considers H.Res.252-the Armenian Genocide resolution, leaders of Lockheed Martin Corporation, Boeing Corporation, Raytheon Corporation, United Technologies and Northrop Grumman warned of “alienating a significant NATO ally and trading partner” and “negative repercussions for U.S. geopolitical interests,” the source says.

“However trade statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tell a different story. Turkey's trade levels with countries, which have recognized the Armenian Genocide since 1995, have increased between 24% and 351%. U.S. trade with Turkey has increased ten-fold since President Ronald Reagan cited the Armenian Genocide in a Presidential Proclamation in 1981,” the source informs.

L.A.