From: "Katia M. Peltekian" <[email protected]>
Subject: Protests greet Turkey’s president as he visits Armenia
The Canadian Press
Sept 6 2008
Protests greet Turkey’s president as he visits Armenia on ‘soccer
diplomacy’
YEREVAN, Armenia – Thousands of Armenians lined the streets of
the capital Saturday to protest the first-ever visit by a Turkish
leader and to demand that Turkey acknowledge the First World War
massacres of Armenian civilians as genocide.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul was invited to Yerevan to watch the
World Cup qualifying soccer match between his country and Armenia
alongside Armenian President Serge Sarkisian. Turkey won the match
2-0.
Many hope the so-called "soccer diplomacy" will help the two
neighbours overcome decades of antagonism rooted in the First World
War-era atrocities that began in 1915.
"We have put forward our determination to create the climate to
overcome problems that exist between Turkey and Armenia," Turkey’s
state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as saying after the two
leaders met.
"We will solve our problems and not leave it to the generations to
come," Sarkisian said, according to Anatolia.
Gul saluted Sarkisian’s "brave" invitation to watch the game and
invited Sarkisian to attend the return game in Istanbul on Oct. 14.
Gul is the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia since the ex-Soviet
country declared independence in 1991. The two neighbours have no
diplomatic ties, and their border has been closed since 1993, when
Turkey protested Armenia’s occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.
Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, up
to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in what is
widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey
denies any genocide, saying the death toll has been inflated and the
dead were victims of civil war and unrest.
Gul’s motorcade from Yerevan airport travelled along streets lined
with thousands of people holding placards reading, in English and
Armenian, "We want justice," "Turkey admit your guilt," and "1915
never again."
Others held up the names of places in eastern Turkey from where they
said their ancestors had been forced to leave under an Ottoman policy
of uprooting Armenian communities.
"I am from Van," said one placard, printed in white letters on black
like a funeral notice.
Gul and Sarkisian watched the game behind a bulletproof glass at the
stadium, which is only 500 metres from a memorial dedicated to the
massacred Armenians.
Armenian fans jeered when the Turkish national anthem was played.
Gul told journalists on the plane that he hoped his visit would "lay
the groundwork for solving the problems between Turkey and Armenia,"
as well as promote the Turkish government’s plan to create a regional
group for the Caucasus.