EUobserver.com, Belgium
Sept 5 2008

EU hails Turkey’s ‘historic’ Armenia visit
ELITSA VUCHEVA

Today @ 09:29 CET

The EU has hailed the decision of Turkish president Abdullah Gul to go
to Armenia on Saturday (6 September) as a "historic and highly
symbolic visit," expressing hopes that it constitutes a first step in
the normalisation of tense relations between the two countries.

Mr Gul’s office earlier this week confirmed he had accepted an
invitation from his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to attend a
qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals between the two nations
in Yerevan.

"This trip is a strong and encouraging sign for relations between
Armenia and Turkey," EU presidency country France said in a
statement.

"The [EU] Presidency hopes that this historic and highly symbolic
visit will foster a climate favourable to the normalisation of
relations between the two countries, to which it looks forward," it
added.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn also called the trip an
"important first step" and said he hoped it would "soon [be] followed
by others that lead to a full normalisation of relations between these
two countries, which would enhance stability in the region and prepare
the ground for strengthened regional cooperation."

The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since Armenia
broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991. On Saturday, Mr Gul will
become the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia.

The main reason for the hostility between the two countries is
Yerevan’s push for the killings by Turkish troops of Armenians during
and after World War I to be internationally recognised as "genocide."

Armenia says Turkey killed 1.5 million of its people, but Turkey
contests the figures saying that around 300,000 Armenians ` but also
as many Turks ` were killed in the last moments of the dying Ottoman
empire, when Armenians were striving for independence.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan
over a conflict about Nagorno-Karabakh – an Armenian-majority region
in Azerbaijan which proclaimed independence leading to civil war.

Turkey is an official candidate to join the EU since 1999 and opened
accession negotiations with the bloc in 2005. The EU has always
insisted that good neighbourly relations are an important
pre-condition for any EU hopeful.

Georgia aftermath

"A visit around this [football] match can create a new climate of
friendship in the region," the Turkish presidency said in a statement
posted on its website. "This match could lift the obstacles blocking
the coming together of two peoples who share a common history and can
create a new foundation."

Saturday’s visit, which is only expected to last a few hours, is also
being viewed in the light of the Georgia-Russia conflict.

"The crisis in Georgia has underlined the importance of good
neighbourly relations in the region, including Turkish-Armenian
relations," Mr Rehn said, with the French presidency also backing a
new Turkish plan to boost reguional relations via the "Caucasus
Cooperation and Stability Platform."

"This is a significant Turkish contribution to this region’s
stability, security and development, which is taking on a new
dimension in the context of the conflict in Georgia," France said.

Turkey’s proposed "platform" is planned to include Turkey, Russia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia and aims to establish regional
conflict resolution mechanisms and broader economic cooperation among
the five countries involved, Turkish media report.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress