Despite the diplomatic tensions between Israel and Turkey aroused by last month’s botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, the Knesset is scheduled to hold a session later this month on the Armenian genocide of 1915, which is attributed to the Ottoman Turks.

But due to an agreement between the government and the Knesset, the discussion will be held not in the plenum, but in a Knesset committee - most likely the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

On April 28, Israeli parliamentarians decided to put the issue of the Armenian Genocide on the Knesset’s agenda of discussions, reviving an initiative that has been a complication for the Israelis since at least 2007.

As it has for 11 years, the youth wing of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnkatsutyun Party, this April 23 held a rally that climaxed with burning a Turkish flag.

The demonstration has always been viewed by some Armenians as an unnecessary political act on a day that should show reverence over hostility.

The decision by President Serzh Sargsyan this week to suspend the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols in parliament, according to certain predictions, will breathe new life into discussions around US House Resolution 252 on the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish MP Canan Arıtman, demanded an explanation from Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as to how come a documentary by German director telling about the Armenian Genocide was shown on German television. “Aghet: Nation Murder” is a documentary made by German filmmaker Eric Friedler that “compellingly proves the absolute truth of the genocide of the Armenian people” ( writes the Center for Armenian Remembrance ).

Early this week the Assembly of Tbilisi Armenians addressed Georgian authorities with a demand to recognize the Armenian Genocide. They have sent official letters to the Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, chairman of the Georgian Parliament, each parliamentarian personally, as well as leaders of a number of political parties.

More than 70 representatives of Turkish intelligentsia issued a appeal on Tuesday urging their fellow countrymen to gather in a central square in Istanbul on April 24 evening to commemorate and pay tribute to the victims of what they described as the “Great Catastrophe” of 1915.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed the week of April 19th through April 26th as “Days of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.”

On April 24-25, a symposium on the Armenian Genocide, titled “1915 within its pre- and post-historical periods: denial and confrontation,” will be held in Ankara. Organized by the Ankara Freedom to Thought Initiative (AFTI), the symposium will not only address the history, but explore issues like the confiscation of Armenian property and reparations.

The U.S. administration expects Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to participate in an international security summit in Washington set for next month.