YOUNG CIVILIANS CALL FOR OPENING ARMENIAN BORDER FOR MATCH

Today’s Zaman
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

The Young Civilians, a democratic youth movement, has called on
authorities to open the Turkish-Armenian border for 24 hours on
Sept. 6 for the World Cup qualifying match between the two countries’
national teams scheduled for that day.

In a statement released earlier this week, the Young Civilians, known
for their frequent use of political humor, said: "Turkey is playing its
first game in the group preliminaries of the World Cup with Armenia in
Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has invited
Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan to see the game. This game is
a great opportunity to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia."

The statement went on to describe how difficult it would be for Turks
to attend the game. "Fans traveling from Turkey to see the game have
two options for getting to Yerevan: The first is by air, which is very
expensive and where it will be hard to find a free seat. Second is
going to Georgia by road, which takes only half an hour from Igdır to
Yerevan." The group then called on the authorities to open the border
for the day. "We just want to see the game and then return home," the
statement noted The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed since 1994.

–Boundary_(ID_jhW7kr6xzUrDISCo02yc4g)–