BRUSSELS
As the European Parliament adopted a resolution Wednesday to recognize the 1915 events as “genocide,” some MEPs have called the act "unbalanced.”
“I cannot say it (the resolution) was balanced," Greens lawmaker Ernest Maragall told The Anadolu Agency on Thursday. "Europe has to help to create the common table (and) the common scenarios where the Turkish people (and) the Armenian people could frankly explain themselves to each other and look for and understand reconciliation."
Maragall added that one must distinguish between the Ottoman Empire and the current Turkish state, which has accepted more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.
"We should take into account that Turkey deserves respect and deserves recognition from European countries," Maragall said regarding the Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The European Parliament first recognized the 1915 events as "genocide" in a 1987 resolution, which the parliament reiterated in a vote Wednesday -- the centenary of the 1915 events.
Ismail Ertug, a member of the European Parliament for the Socialists and Democrats, told AA on Thursday that pressure for the "recognition of the Armenian genocide" in Turkey has not helped so far in bringing reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.
"There needs to be a common agreement in order for Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations," Ertug said. "Negotiations will not start and problems will not be solved unless there is confidence."
Turkey has repeatedly rejected the EU's definition of the events and has said that Armenians died during a relocation process in 1915 during World War I, when a portion of the Armenian population, living in the Ottoman Empire, sided with the invading Russians and revolted against the empire.
Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying that, although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.
Opening archives
Turkey has called for the establishment of a joint commission of historians and the opening of archives to study and uncover what actually happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian citizens.
Ertug said calls for establishing a joint historians' commission is a good idea, but that it is frozen if the calls are unanswered.
"I think Turkey should not stop there," he said. "Turkey should go on with this process in a fair and impartial manner."
'A tragedy'
The European Commission has refused to call the 1915 events a "genocide" following the European Parliament’s resolution.
The European Commission, the 28-nation-bloc’s executive body, referred to the 1915 events as a "tragedy."
European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva told the European Parliament on Wednesday that the EU "fully acknowledges the significance of the upcoming commemoration as well as the divergence of views over this tragedy."
