The Nation, Pakistan
Sept 8 2008

Gul upbeat after Armenia visit

ANKARA 2008 (AFP) – Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul returned from
Armenia with hopes of normalising troubled ties as Turkish newspapers
Sunday warned against squandering the opportunity presented by his
historic visit.

Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia when he flew to
Yerevan Saturday for a football match and talks with his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian from which both leaders emerged with
pledges to overcome a history of enmity.

Speaking to reporters on his return flight, Gul sounded upbeat about a
possible breakthrough if the two estranged neighbours managed to build
up on his trip.

`I believe my visit has demolished a psychological barrier in the
Caucasus,’ Gul was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying. `If
this climate continues, everything will move forward and normalise.’

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade. Their relationship has been taken
hostage by deep differences over the World War I massacres of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Turkey.

Armenians say Ottoman Turks systematically killed up to 1.5 million of
their people between 1915 and 1917 as their empire fell apart, a claim
supported by several other countries.

Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops.

But Gul said neither the dispute nor the closed border figured in his
meeting with Sarkisian, in a sign that the two leaders were careful to
avoid contentious issues. He said his Armenian host had made no
reference to `the so-called genocide claims’.

Analysts underlined that the visit would not be enough to solve the
deep-rooted problems between the two nations, but would serve to
accelerate efforts for reconciliation.

Gul’s visit is a `gesture that will leave its mark on people from both
sides. It will strengthen the desire to overcome problems and double
efforts on both sides for a creative solution,’ foreign policy
commentator Ferai Tinc wrote in the mass-circulation Hurriyet
newspaper.