GUL INVITES SARGSYAN TO ATTEND TURKEY-ARMENIA MATCH

armradio.am
08.09.2008 13:17

The Armenia-Turkey qualifier within the framework of the FIFA 2010
World Cup took place at Yerevan’s Hrazdan stadium Saturday. Tuncay
Sanli and Semih Senturk scored second-half goals Saturday to give
Turkey a 2-0 win. Tuncay gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute,
scoring from close range.

Senturk made it 2-0 in the 79th, capitalizing on a defender’s mistake
in the box.

The Turkish national team won. The real winner, however, was
friendship.

This match was of special importance for both Armenian and Turkish
football.

The Presidents of Armenia and Turkey Serzh Sargsyan and Abdullah Gul
attended the match. The Turkish President accepted the invitation of
his Armenian counterpart, thus becoming the first Turkish leader to
visit independent Armenia.

"I believe that my visit was fruitful and that it promises hope for
the future," Gul said after returning to Ankara, adding that he had a
"constructive and sincere" meeting with Sargsyan.

He said he had won Yerevan’s support for a new regional grouping in the
Caucasus following last month’s conflict between Georgia and Russia.

"We were pleased with Armenia’s announcement that it supports Turkey’s
proposal of a ‘Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform’," Gul said
adding that there was a ball in their court and this ball should not
have remained in their court.

=0 A "The most important issue in the Caucasus is the Karabakh
issue. My visit to Yerevan may contribute to the solution of this
problem," Gul added.

But Gul said that neither the dispute nor the closed border between
the two neighbors figured in his meeting with Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan, Turkish Hurriyet reported.

President Gul also invited his Armenian counterpart Sargsyan to
attend a return football match between two national teams in Turkey
on Oct. 14.