TVNZ, New Zealand
Sept 7 2008

Soccer diplomacy a Turkish goal

Sep 7, 2008 11:17 AM

President Abdullah Gul, making the first visit to Armenia by a Turkish
leader, joined Armenia’s president on Saturday at a soccer match which
both men said could help end almost a century of hostility.

The neighbours 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 for Gul’s trip was tight. Attack helicopters escorted his jet
on arrival and hundreds of demonstrators lined the streets of the
Armenian capital, Yerevan.

But the two presidents expressed hope their meeting at the World Cup
qualifier, the first match between the two national sides, would
herald a new beginning.

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, alongside Sarksyan, said he was "leaving optimistic".

"If we create a good atmosphere and climate for this process, this
will be a great achievement, and will also benefit stability and
cooperation in the Caucasus," he told reporters after the game, which
Turkey won 2-0.

Sarksyan said he would attend the return match in October 2009, and
that the invitation to do so suggested Gul "also has some expectations
that there will be some movement between these two meetings".

Turkey has never opened an embassy in Armenia and in 1993 Ankara
closed its 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 behind
bullet-proof glass in a VIP box 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". But not all Armenians were hostile.

"It’s good Gul is here because we have to improve relations with
Turkey," said student Garik Tumanyan, 20. "It’s good for our country,
but Turkey must recognise that genocide happened."

Armenia says 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks,
and Yerevan insists Ankara should recognise 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.

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
neighbour 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.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan remained in Yerevan for further
talks with his Armenian counterpart, Gul said.