European Parliament President Martin Schulz has denied reports that he said a recognition of the Armenian "genocide" was a precondition for Turkey's eventual membership in the EU.
An Armenian website, PanARMENIAN, had claimed on Sept. 18 that Schulz had announced that Turkey's integration into Europe was conditional on its recognition of the "genocide."
A statement from Schulz's press office said on Wednesday the report was incorrect and that the relevant Armenian news outlets would be contacted to correct the story. Schulz's press office had a transcript of the speech referred to in the report, which Schulz made when he received Turkish EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagish.
According to the transcript, Schulz said: "Nevertheless, my recommendation to the Turkish authorities is today the same as it was in previous times. You should face your own history and you should allow independent inquiries about your history. If the independent inquires come to the conclusion that it was genocide, you should recognize it. But I think it's first up to Turkey to solve the problem."
Schulz also made it clear in the same statement that he had not talked about the "genocide" with Bagish.
"Once again, this was not an issue raised in our conversation," he said in the statement.