The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution which urges all EU member states and Turkey to recognize the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire as Armenian 'genocide'.

Turkey has repeatedly rejected the EU's definition of the events and pointed out that Armenians died during a relocation process in 1915.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected any possibility of Turkey caving in to pressure over Armenian and Western efforts to label the 1915 incidents – which Turkey describes as a forced mass deportation of Armenians from Anatolia during World War I – as "genocide," given their highly political causes.

As the Armenian diaspora ratchets up pressure on Western countries to label the 1915 incidents as "genocide," experts believe the recognition of the incidents as a genocide will bring no gains in terms of ameliorating sour ties with Armenia.

Wednesday's vote came a day after the European Union urged Turkey and Armenia to normalize their relations following a spat prompted by remarks made by Pope Francis over the 1915 events, in which he described the killings of Armenians during World War I as "the first genocide of the 20th century".

The European Parliament first recognized the 1915 events as a "genocide" in a 1987 resolution, which the parliament is set to recall in a vote on Wednesday - the centenary of the 1915 events.

Turkey and Armenia disagree on what happened during the events between 1915 and 1923, with Armenia saying that 1.5 million people were deliberately killed and Turkey saying the deaths were a result of deportations and civil strife.

Pope Francis said on Sunday that "the first genocide of the 20th century struck Armenians", a statement which triggered criticism from Turkey and led to Ankara recalling its ambassador in the Vatican and also summoning Vatican's envoy in the Turkish capital.

The 1915 events took place 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.

The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following the revolts and there were Armenian casualties during the relocation process.

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.