ARMENIAN TEAM CHANGES EMBLEM BEFORE TURKEY MATCH

Today’s Zaman
Sept 4 2008
Turkey

The Armenian national soccer team, poised to play against Turkey in
a World Cup qualifying game on Saturday, will be using a new emblem
featuring the figures of a tiger and a lion instead of a silhouette
of Mount Agrı, also known as Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey.

Turkey and Armenia have had no formal ties since 1993. One of the
conditions Ankara expects Yerevan to fulfill for normalization
of relations is formal recognition of the current border with
Turkey. Turkish decision-makers are concerned that the Armenian
administration has claims on Turkish territory, and the depiction
of Mount Agrı on the Armenian national team emblem is seen as a
sign of Armenia’s desire to claim a piece of eastern Turkey. The
Armenian Constitution describes Mount Agrı as a "state symbol,"
and Armenia’s declaration of independence mentions eastern Turkey as
"Western Armenia."

The new emblem of the Armenian national team was introduced to the
public at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday. Speaking at
the briefing Armenian Football Federation Chairman Ruben Hayrapetyan
said the change of emblem was due to a demand to that effect from
football fan associations, noting that the previous emblem was not
popular among national team fans. An Armenian official in Yerevan
told Today’s Zaman that the emblem had been changed a month ago and
that the new emblem will be used for the first time in the World Cup
qualifying match against Turkey. He denied, however, any link between
the change and the game against Turkey.

Although officials dismiss a connection between the new emblem and
the upcoming match, the change is likely to be considered a good
will gesture by the Armenian side. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan
invited his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to watch the game
in Yerevan. Gul has not said yet whether he would attend, but he is
widely expected to accept the invitation.

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