OPENING DOORS AND HEARTS
by Dogu Ergil

Today’s Zaman
Sept 10 2008
Turkey

Despite unfair and unsavoury criticisms from the opposition, President
Abdullah Gul went through with the expected visit to Armenia.

No doubt, there are ultra-nationalistic elements on both sides who
hoped this visit would never happen and that people would continue to
live with the burden of the "historical baggage" that has disrupted
nearly 600 years of mutual life together on Anatolian soil. The
occasion was afforded by the invitation of the president of Armenia,
Mr Serzh Sargsyan, to watch a European Cup qualifying game between
the Turkish and Armenian national football teams. This historic visit
made President Gul the first Turkish president ever to set foot in
Armenia. That is why it has an important symbolic meaning as well as
the practical end of starting a long-delayed rapprochement between
the two neighbours estranged since World War I.

The visit was a necessary one for three important reasons: First,
Turkey had recently tabled a proposal that could help find solutions to
tensions in the troubled Caucasus through dialogue and cooperation. The
proposal entailed a diplomatic medium called the Caucasus Stability
and Cooperation Platform involving the Russian Federation, Georgia,
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Surely it would not be wise to
refrain from developing diplomatic relations with a country in the
same organization one has proposed. In the absence of mitigating
organizations in the Caucasus, souring relations could end up in bloody
conflicts, as between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia and Chechnya and,
most recently, between Russia and Georgia.

Russia’s military action in Georgia has persuaded both Armenia and
Turkey that it is time to put their differences aside – of course,
with some help from friends (meaning the US and the EU). The armed
conflict made it obvious that oil and gas pipelines passing through
Georgia, financed largely by the West, joining the rich Caspian region
to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast is not safe anymore.

So far bypassing Armenia not only pushed this country closer to Russia
and Iran but put it in a vulnerable position in terms of energy
supplies. All of a sudden Armenia became an attractive alternative
route. NATO seems to be encouraging its most eastern member, Turkey,
to seek alternative routes. This position inevitably gives Turkey a
more important role than it presently plays in the Caucasus. But then
this requires Ankara to mend severed relations with Armenia. Armenia
also seems to be more willing to reciprocate at a time when Russia
has begun to flex its muscles to rebuild its firm grip on its "near
abroad," as in Soviet times. And Armenia never wants to go back to
those days. There is a new generation that believes the future should
be quite different than the past. This requires better relations
with Turkey.

Second, the visit intends to initiate an improvement in relations
without being captives of history and a development of ties that will
yield mutual benefits to both peoples. Armenia is a landlocked country
and wants an outlet to move goods and people freely and easily. The
Turkish eastern provinces are in dire need of economic development and
invigoration of their commercial and industrial potential. Opening up
border gates that have been closed since 1993 and paving the way for
a robust economic exchange can enliven both Armenia and relatively
underdeveloped eastern Turkey.