ISSUES DIVIDING ARMENIA, TURKEY

PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
Sept 5 2008
Austria

A look at issues dividing neighbors Armenia and Turkey ahead of
Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s trip to the Armenian capital, Yerevan,
to watch a World Cup qualifier between the two countries.

GENOCIDE: Turkey and Armenia are at odds over the killing of up to
1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I, which many
scholars consider the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenia
wants the killings recognized as one of the worst humanitarian
atrocities. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, contending
the toll has been inflated, and those killed were victims of civil
war and unrest that killed Muslims as well as the overwhelmingly
Christian Armenians. Turkey has proposed the establishment of an
committee of scholars to investigate the deaths, but Armenia has
branded the proposal a political maneuver.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH: Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave encircled by Azerbaijan but controlled by
ethnic Armenian forces. Turkey closed its border with Armenia 1993 in
a show of solidarity with ally Azerbaijan with which it shares a common
language, culture and religion. The move has hurt landlocked Armenia’s
economy. Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s
independence in 1991, but the two have not established diplomatic ties.

SLAYING OF TURKISH DIPLOMATS: Armenian militants seeking the foundation
of an Armenian state in eastern Turkey and vengeance for the massacres
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks killed a dozen Turkish diplomats in
the 1970s and 1980s. The militants, belonging to the Armenian Secret
Army for the Liberation of Armenia, or ASALA, also attacked the
Turkish Airlines desk at Paris Orly Airport in 1983, which killed
eight people and wounded 56. The slayings have aggravated Turkish
animosity toward Armenians.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress