Spainish parliament rejects Armenian 'genocide' motion

The Spanish parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday rejected a motion supporting the Armenian allegations on the incidents of 1915, in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.

The bill was defeated by a 17-9 vote, with nine abstentions. All but three of the 17 "no" votes were cast by the ruling People's Party.

The motion to recognize the Armenian "genocide" allegations was submitted in 2016 by the leftist, Catalonian ERC party.

Turkey's position on the events is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915 occurred after some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Ankara does not accept the alleged "genocide" but acknowledges there were casualties on both sides during World War I.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy for both sides.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to tackle the issue.