HURRIYET: GUL TOOK BRAVE AND HISTORIC DECISION

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.09.2008 13:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President Abdullah Gul will on Saturday become
the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia, his office said,
taking an important step to restart diplomatic relations between two
neighboring countries, Hurriyet daily reports.

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan invited Gul last month to attend the
qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals to mark "a new symbolic
start in the countries’ relations". Turkish diplomats and security
officials have been in Yerevan this week making final preparations.

"A visit around this match can create a new climate of friendship in
the region," the Turkish presidency said in a statement posted on its
website. "It is with this in mind that the president has accepted the
invitation. This match could lift the obstacles blocking the coming
together of two peoples who share a common history and can create a
new foundation," it said.

Gul will arrive in Yerevan two hours before the match and go directly
to Sargsyan’s office. The meeting of two presidents is expected to
last for one hour. They are expected to discuss the Nagorno Karabakh
issue and Turkey’s Stability and Cooperation Pact.

The Turkish delegation will leave Yerevan as soon as the match ends.

"Turkish President has made a brave and historic decision," Ertugrul
Ozkok, editor-in-chief of Hurriyet daily, wrote in his column
Thursday. "Turkey must know how to face issues that cloud its days,
by taking such brave decisions," he added.

Ozkok wrote that he believed football would crack the ice walls that
stand between the two countries. "The winner of Saturday’s game is
clear today. The winners of this match are the Turkish and Armenian
people," he concluded.