ARMENIA INVITES TURKISH PRESIDENT TO FOOTBALL MATCH

Turkish Daily News
Monday, July 7, 2008
Turkey

ANKARA – TDN with wire dispatches

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has invited his Turkish counterpart
to visit Yerevan for a football match in September, marking a shift
in relations between the two states which have no diplomatic ties.

Armenia and Turkey are slated to play each other in the Armenian
capital Yerevan Sept. 6 in a qualifying match for the 2010 FIFA World
Cup in South Africa.

"Sarksyan has sent a formal invitation to the president of Turkey,
Abdullah Gul," said Samvel Farmanyan, the Armenian president’s
spokesman.

Turkey broke diplomatic relations with Armenia in protest to Yerevan’s
occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region over which Armenia fought
Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s. Turkey was among the
first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence after the 1991
fall of the Soviet Union.

Armenia also accuses Turkey of genocide during violence at the end
of World War I. Turkey denies the accusations and says that both
Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in the fighting.

Gul holds talks with Russia’s Medvedev

On the sidelines of a ceremony on the occasion of the 10th anniversary
of Astana being declared the capital of Kazakhstan, Gul held a meeting
with the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents over the weekend. Speaking
to reporters before his return to Turkey yesterday, Gul said he would
evaluate the offer extended by Armenia’s Sarksyan to watch the match
in Yerevan.

In Kazakhstan, Gul also held talks with the new Russian president,
marking the first high-level dialogue since the election of Dmitry
Medvedev in March.

The two leaders discussed Turkish-Russian relations, trade and
huge infrastructure projects, said a written statement released
by the Russian Embassy in Ankara. Gul said representatives of the
Turkish construction sector were seriously interested in promising
infrastructure projects in Russia and stressed that the Turkish side
was ready to contribute to the participation of Turkish companies in
projects for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, read the statement.

The two leaders also discussed the Caucasus and cooperation in the
Black Sea and vowed to increase visits, it added.