Reuters.uk, UK
Sept 6 2008

Soccer-Presidents watch Turkey beat Armenia 2-0

Sat Sep 6, 2008 7:39pm BST

YEREVAN, Sep 6 (Reuters) – Second-half goals from Tuncay Sanli and
Semih Senturk gave Turkey a 2-0 winning start to their World Cup
qualifying campaign against Armenia on Saturday in a match full of
diplomatic significance.

The game was marked by the presence of Abdullah Gul making the first
visit by a Turkish president to Armenia. Gul was invited to attend the
game by his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarksyan, who called for closer
ties in a region rocked last month by Russia’s war with Georgia.

The countries have no diplomatic ties and their relationship is
historically tense because of the killing of ethnic Armenians by
Ottoman Turks during World War One.

Security was tight for the two presidents, who sat together with their
delegations. At the final whistle the groups exchanged handshakes and
applauded as the players on the pitch traded shirts. (Reporting by
Yerevan newsroom, writing by Moscow newsroom, editing by Clare Lovell

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