Reuters, UK
Sept 6 2008
Soccer diplomacy brings Turkey’s Gul to Armenia
Sat Sep 6, 2008 2:07pm EDT
By Paul de Bendern and Hasmik Lazarian
YEREVAN (Reuters) – The presidents of Turkey and Armenia went to a
soccer match together on Saturday during a landmark encounter in
Yerevan designed to help end almost a century of hostility and aid
security in the Caucasus.
Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia. The
neighbors have no diplomatic ties but a relationship haunted by
whether ethnic Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks during World War One
were victims of systematic genocide.
Security was tight. Helicopters escorted Gul’s jet on arrival and
hundreds of demonstrators lined the streets of the Armenian capital.
But the two presidents expressed hope the World Cup qualifier, the
first match between the two national sides, would help thaw relations
and foster dialogue.
The initiative has gained new impetus since Russia’s war with Georgia
last month, which raised fears for the security of energy supplies
from the Caspian Sea to western Europe.
"We hope we will be able to demonstrate goodwill to solve the problems
between our countries and not transfer them to future generations,"
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan told a news conference after
receiving Gul.
Gul said he hoped the game — which Turkey won 2-0 — would aid
rapprochement and contribute to regional peace and security.
"This match is important beyond being the first match between the
Turkish and Armenian national teams," Gul said on departure from
Ankara. "It has a significance that will present important
opportunities."
Turkey has never opened an embassy in Armenia and in 1993 Ankara
closed their land border in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan, a
Turkic-speaking ally which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ROUTE
But even as the two presidents took their seats together in the
Hrazdan stadium, the challenges were obvious.
Armenian fans booed the Turkish national anthem, and dozens of
demonstrators held torches and flowers in silent vigil at an imposing
monument to the World War One killings on a hillside behind the
stadium.
Protesters in the streets held banners that read: "1915 – Never
Again", and "We Demand Justice".
Armenia says 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks,
and Yerevan insists Ankara should recognize the killings as
genocide. Turkey says Turks and Armenians alike were killed in
partisan warfare.
But Russia’s decision last month to send its forces into Georgia, an
ex-Soviet state which borders both Armenia and Turkey, has convinced
many that it is time for Ankara and Yerevan to put their differences
aside.
Gul said the events made his trip "especially important".
Sarksyan said Gul had invited him to the return game next year.
Establishment of normal relations could have huge significance for
Turkey’s role as a regional power, for energy flows from the Caspian
Sea and for Western influence in the South Caucasus.
Landlocked Armenia, a Soviet republic until 1991, could also derive
enormous benefits from the opening of the frontier with its large
neighbor and the restoration of a key rail link.
Western-backed pipelines shipping oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to
Turkey’s Mediterranean coast bypass Armenia and bend north instead to
go through Georgia.
With that route looking vulnerable after the Russian intervention,
Armenia could be an attractive alternative.