Dutch MPs have urged the country's government to officially recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide, euronews reported.

Lawmaker Joel Voordewind from the ChristenUnie (Christian Union) said the Dutch government's vague position on this matter was "absurd."

"The government still uses the phrase 'the issue of the Armenian Genocide' or speaks of 'the terrible events,'" Voordewind added in a statement. "In doing so it evades the truth; that it was a planned and deliberate genocide."

"This recognition is very important, the genocide is an open wound for the Armenian community," said Voordewind. "The fact that many countries, including the Netherlands, did not even want to recognize that it was a genocide makes it all the more painful."

"For that reason alone, it is important that our government speaks out clearly about what happened in the past."

"Recognizing the past is a crucial first step for reconciliation and to prevent repetition," he added.

In 2018, Dutch lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly to acknowledge this act as genocide. But the decision did not become the country's official policy and terminology. Thursday's vote, in the upper house of parliament, seeks to change this.