Islam Online, Qatar
Sept 7 2008

Turkey’s Armenia Football Diplomacy

ANKARA – Turkey’s main dailies on Sunday, September 7, saw in
President Abdullah Gul’s unprecedented football diplomacy visit to
Armenia a rare chance to burry the hatches after almost a century of
hostility with the Caucasus neighbor.

"A beautiful beginning," Vatan newspaper said on its front page.

"A hope-inspiring meeting," agreed the daily Radikal.

Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia when he flew to
Yerevan Saturday, September 6, for a football match and talks with his
Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian.

The conservative Zaman newspaper described the visit as "new era" in
bilateral ties while the popular Milliyet spoke of "a beginning full
of hope."

Even though Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia
when it gained independence in 1991, the two neighbors have no
diplomatic ties and their border has been closed for more than a
decade.

Their relationship are haunted by whether ethnic Armenians killed
during World War One were victims of systematic genocide or not.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were systematically
killed by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917 as their empire fell
apart.

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.

Common Interest

The mass-circulation Sabah also ran jubilant headlines.

"Double victory in Yerevan," it said in reference to both the talks
and the Turkish national team’s 2-0 victory over Armenia in their
World Cup qualifier.

But many believe the visit would not be enough to solve the
deep-rooted problems between the two nations, but would serve to
accelerate efforts for reconciliation.

"It is obvious that history cannot be forgotten," commentator Hasan
Cemal wrote in Milliyet.

"But what is important is not to be taken hostage by history or the
pain of the past."

Ferai Tinc, a foreign policy commentator in the mass-circulation
Hurriyet newspaper, described the visit as 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," he believes.

President Gul himself sounded upbeat about a possible breakthrough if
the two estranged neighbors managed to build up on his trip.

"I believe my visit has demolished a psychological barrier in the
Caucasus," he told reporters on his return flight.

"If this climate continues, everything will move forward and
normalize."

If the two countries move beyond the symbolism of the visit to
re-establish normal relations, that 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 region.

Better ties would also boost Ankara’s EU membership bid, with France
repeatedly raising concerns about a border dispute between Turkey and
smaller Armenia.

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 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.

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