YEREVAN SCRAPS VISAS FOR TURKISH SOCCER FANS

Today’s Zaman
16 August 2008, Saturday
Turkey

In a fresh overture to Ankara, Armenia decided on Thursday to
unilaterally suspend its visa regime with Turkey to facilitate the
arrival of Turkish fans for the upcoming first-ever match between
the two countries’ national football teams, the Armenian media have
reported.

The Armenian government stated that Turkish citizens traveling to
Armenia from Sept. 1-6 will not be required to obtain entry visas,
the online news portal armenialiberty.org said in a report posted on
Thursday. "The decision was taken to enable citizens of the Turkish
Republic to attend the Sept. 6 game between the football teams of
Armenia and Turkey to be played in Yerevan," the article quoted a
government statement as saying.

Approached by Today’s Zaman yesterday, diplomatic sources in
Ankara said they haven’t yet received an official notification
concerning the visa decision; yet, the same sources also said such
an initiative by Yerevan should be considered normal procedure. "For
sporting events, the parties involved often provide such temporary
implementations. If this decision by Yerevan was actually made,
this is not an extraordinary action that hasn’t been seen before,"
the diplomatic sources, speaking under condition of anonymity, told
Today’s Zaman.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan invited President Abdullah Gul to a
World Cup qualifying match between the national soccer teams of the
two countries in Yerevan on Sept. 6, calling for dialogue to help
normalize ties and saying this would be mutually beneficial.

Both diplomats at the Foreign Ministry and officials close to the
Cankaya presidential palace are tight-lipped on whether Gul will
accept Sarksyan’s invitation, which has led the international media to
define the current state of affairs as "soccer diplomacy." Analysts
say Ankara will probably announce its decision on the matter at
the latest possible moment while continuing its silence as long as
possible. Sources close to Gul’s office say, however, that "Cankaya
palace’s assessment of the invitation is positive." Ankara Today’s
Zaman