Voice of America
Sept 5 2008

Turkey and Armenia Relations Thaw a Bit

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
05 September 2008

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has accepted an invitation from
President Serge Sargsyan of Armenia to attend a World Cup qualifying
soccer match between the countries. The two nations remain deeply
divided over the World War I-era massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire and do not have diplomatic relations. As Dorian Jones
reports for VOA, the visit is being seen as an important breakthrough
for bilateral relations.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will head Saturday to Yerevan to watch
the Turkish national football team play a World Cup
qualifier. Although President Gul will only spend a few hours in the
Armenian capital, Turkish international relations expert Cengiz Aktar
says the visit is significant.

"It is very important but one should not exaggerate its
significance. Either if they can establish a sort of personal
relationship, President Gul and President Sargsyan, all the best. This
is how things advance. But the problems are so deep that one such
visit is definitely not enough to solve them," he said.

In a statement released by Mr. Gul, the visit has the potential of
creating a climate of friendship in the region. The Turkish president
is scheduled to meet with his Armenian counterpart for talks during
his visit.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations because of Turkey’s
opposition to Armenia’s occupation of a region of Azerbaijan — a
close ally of Turkey.

The rivalry also stems from Armenia’s insistence that the deaths of an
estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians around the time of World War I
be recognized as genocide. Turkey says the killings occurred at a time
of civil conflict and that the casualty figures are inflated.

The embargo has hit the Armenian economy hard and, according to Cengiz
Aktar, that hardship has intensified with the Georgian conflict
restricting trade access to the important Black Sea port of Poti.

"The port of Poti is under Russian occupation and the Turkish border
is closed, so Armenia is in the hands of Russia and Iran. They want
desperately for this Turkish border to reopen," he said.

The leaders of Turkey’s main opposition parties have strongly
condemned President Gul’s decision to visit Yerevan, accusing him of
betraying the country and its Azerbaijan ally. And, in Armenia, the
nationalist Dashnaktsutyun party said it activists will be at the
airport where Mr. Gul is to arrive and the football stadium to stage
protests demanding Turkey recognize the World War One killings as
genocide.

But the United States and the European Union have welcomed the
president’s decision. The Turkish media also is broadly supportive of
the visit, along with many organizations.

One such group is Fans Without Borders which is sending a group to
Yerevan to call an end to the Armenian embargo. One member is Ceran
Kener:

"Our is aim is that to say that we don’t leave this issues to the
States. We don’t want to leave this issue to the Diaspora. We want to
deal with this issue with ourselves," he said.

Turkish diplomatic sources say that while little diplomatic progress
will be made during short visit, the real test will be if substantial
negotiations will follow after Mr. Gul’s visit.