The country, which has been Europe-oriented for 80 years and now bids for the EU should have enough courage and honesty to acknowledge its responsibility for the cloudy pages of its history, Deutche Welle reports. However, when the German parliament condemned the mass killing of Armenians by Turks 90 years ago, it sparked angry protest from Ankara. But if it wants to be taken seriously by the EU, it needs to face up to its past. In a vote June 17, Germany's main parliamentary parties joined forces to deplore the systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1916. Berlin is now urging Turkey to set up an independent committee of Turkish, Armenian and international historians to document what happened. The resolution looks set to test relations between Ankara and Berlin. So far, the German government has been a key supporter of Turkish EU aspirations. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul described the resolution as one-sided and "provocative," and said German lawmakers had ignored repeated warnings of the harm the resolution would do to bilateral ties. No one intended to offend the Turkish people and none of the deputies voting for the resolution meant to spoil relations with Turkey. The matter concerns recognition of historical truth and reconciliation of the two nations. Armenia should also be interested in it. "Generations of Turks have grown up never learning about this tragedy," he said. "Now that it's being discussed, they're realizing how little they actually know. At the moment, we're experiencing a time of complete confusion", theorist Ahmet Insel says. Presently there is a possibility of discussion. However the Turkish Justice Minister prohibited an Armenian Genocide Conference. Armenia, on its part is not in a hurry to step forward, since Yerevan has not given a distinct response to Turkish Prime Minister's Erdogan's proposal. Though it is quite understandable, as what's the use of the Armenian-Turkish historical commission if the Turkish party is certain to say, "There was no Genocide". Germany has been reluctant to address the issue of Turkish and Armenian history in the past largely due to its own 2.5 million Turkish residents. However, a member of the CSU/CSU bloc, Erwin Marschewski, said the EU value system required that countries "shine a spotlight on the dark pages of our history."