Fresno State offensive linemen Chris Piligian weighed in on the House Foreign Affairs Committee's resolution passed Wednesday labeling the deaths of about 1.5 million Armenians nearly a century ago a "genocide."

"You can't deny it," said Piligian, who's Armenian. "That's like the Nazi's saying the holocaust didn't happen."

The declaration from the House panel -- approved 27-21 -- said the deportation of about 2 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire (modern day Turkey) and the subsequent deaths of about 1.5 million Armenians was "systematic" and "deliberate."

The language in the resolution says, "The Armenian genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923."

The full House still needs to vote on the resolution.

"I'm glad," Piligian said. "There's conclusive evidence that the Armenian genocide happened. The Turkish, of course, deny it but that's just for their own personal reasons. ...

"The reason why it took so long for us to maybe declare it actually happened is maybe we're more worried about our relations with what was going on with Turkey than how the Armenians feel about it."