ARMENIAN PRESIDENT PLANS TO INVITE GUL TO WORLD CUP QUALIFYING MATCH
Today’s Zaman
June 26 2008
Turkey
Serzh Sarkisian, the president of Turkey’s estranged neighbor,
Armenia, has said he plans to invite Turkish President Abdullah Gul
to Yerevan to watch a soccer match together between the two countries’
national teams.
"I intend to take new steps toward establishing relations with
Turkey. I will probably invite Turkish President Gul to Yerevan
to attend a soccer match between the Armenian and Turkish national
teams," Sarkisian, who was sworn into office in April, was quoted as
saying by Armenian media earlier this week at a meeting with members
of Moscow’s Armenian community.
In November, Turkey was pitted against Spain, Belgium, Bosnia, Armenia
and Estonia in group five of the European qualifying competition
for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Armenian media said
that the Armenian and Turkish national teams would play a match in
September in Yerevan.
While there was no official response to reports on Sarkisian’s remarks
in Ankara, a senior US diplomat has welcomed them in Washington.
"It’s an amazing development. Both leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
seem to be pragmatic, practical and ready to explore each sides needs
when it comes to a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement," Matt Bryza, deputy
assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told
reporters. Armenia’s position on the establishment of relations with
Turkey is exact, and there can be a closed border between neighbor
states in the 21st century, Sarkisian also said.