AsiaNews.it, Italy
Sept 5 2008

Football diplomacy between Ankara and Yerevan

by Mavi Zambak

Turkish President Gül accepts invitation to attend a football
match between Armenia and Turkey. For the past 15 years the two
countries had no diplomatic relations and their borders were
sealed. Political and oil interests explain the president’s yes.

Ankara (AsiaNews) ` After three days of silence Turkish President
Abdullah Gül accepted an invitation by his Armenian counterpart
President Serzh Sargsyan to attend tomorrow’s qualifying match between
Armenia and Turkey in the Armenian capital of Yerevan for the 2010
FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Such an extraordinary event is
important not so much for the outcome of the football (soccer) match
but as the first step in a process that could solve the many complex
disputes between the two countries.

For the past 15 years Turkey and Armenia have had no formal diplomatic
relations. Over the same period of time their shared border has been
sealed, this despite the fact that Turkey one of the first countries
to recognise the independence of the former Soviet Republic in 1991.

Relations, never strong at the best of times, broke down definitely
when Armenia occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory, when it
invaded Nagorno Karabakh. They became toxic when the Armenians began
insisting that Turkey recognise the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915 and 1916 in the twilight years of the Ottoman Empire.

What is certain, according to Ã-mer Engin Lütem, director of
the Ankara-based Institute for Armenian Research, is that the Turks
realise now that opening to Armenia does not mean owning up to the
genocide charge. The Turkish press has encouraged this rapprochement
on political and economic grounds. Many people also want to see a
commission of inquiry into issues like `Diaspora’ Armenians.

In 2005 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an had already
suggested the creation of a joint Armenian-Turkish commission of
historians, but former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan proposed
instead an `intergovernmental commission’ to re-establish diplomatic
relations and discuss the international recognition of the genocide
with eventual compensation.

Since then everything has been at a standstill, wall against wall,
with Turkey still denying the charges of `genocide’ and dismissing the
whole issue as an invention to weaken the Turkish nation.

The good will of the Armenian host has to be admired. In arguing for
the Gül invitation he said: `During the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Turkey closed its border with Armenia as an expression of
ethnic solidarity with Turkic Azerbaijan. The regrettable result is
that for almost 15 years, the geopolitically vital border between
Armenia and Turkey has become a barrier to diplomatic and economic
cooperation. It is closed not only to Armenians and Turks who might
want to visit their neighboring countries, but to trade, transport and
energy flows from East to West.’

`There may be possible political obstacles on both sides along the
way. However, we must have the courage and the foresight to act
now. Armenia and Turkey need not and should not be permanent rivals. A
more prosperous, mutually beneficial future for Armenia and Turkey,
and the opening up of a historic East-West corridor for Europe, the
Caspian region and the rest of the world, are goals that we can and
must achieve.’

In Turkey the opposition reacted negatively to Gül’s decision
to go to Yerevan, viewing it as giving in to Armenia. The Republican
People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) even
called the trip an insult to the honour of the Turkish nation and an
`historic error’. In light of the close ties between Armenia to
Russia, the decision for them bodes ill for Turkey’s historic ties to
Georgia and especially Azerbaijan, a nation closer to Turkey in terms
of history, ethnicity and language, because of the.

In Europe the response has instead been positive. EU enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn 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.’

>From his See in Istanbul Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II expressed
through his secretary hope that the football match might be an
opportunity for these two nations to renew friendship and brotherhood.

Turkish Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an is backing the `sport meeting’
between the two presidents, hoping it might be the first step in
realising his much vaunted proposal for a `Caucasus Stability and
Cooperation Platform’ which initially should include Turkey, Russia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, followed later by other neighbouring
countries. This platform has a `geographic basis’ whose goal is `peace
and security in the region’ as well as `economic cooperation and
energy security.’

It is clear that behind the idea of acting as a mediator for peace and
stability, there is Ankara’s desire to meet the country’s continuous
and pressing need for energy supplies. For this reason in particular,
it is trying to strengthen ties with Georgia and Azerbaijan without
antagonising Russia since 60 per cent of its methane requirements come
from the Russian giant who this year will become Turkey’s main trading
partner, replacing Germany. And lest we forget Russia maintains strong
ties to Armenia.

In the meantime, 12,000 tickets have been reportedly sold already,
2,700 to Turkish spectators, who had the US$ 50 entry visa fee waived.

Photo: the match between the two Under 19 national teams.

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