"SOCCER DIPLOMACY" TO HELP DISPEL ARMENIA-TURKEY GRUDGES

People’s Daily Online
Sept 16 2008
China

Armenia-Turkey relations have begun relaxing with an impetus of the
"soccer diplomacy". Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited his
Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul Serzh to the Armenian capital of
Yerevan to watch a soccer match, or the historic World Cup qualifier
match held between the Turkish and Armenian teams, and the two leaders
enjoyed the match in the stadium in early September.

Soon afterwards, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that
his country would work for the establishment of diplomatic ties with
Turkey. He spoke highly of the visit by Turkish President Abdullah
Gul, which, he noted, had opened broad vistas for the dialogue between
the leaders of the two nations. As both countries border on Georgia,
their reconciliation will exert a great impact on geopolitics in
the Caucasus.

Since the announcement of its independence in 1991, Armenian, a
former Soviet republic, has still not forged its normal diplomatic
ties with Turkey to date owing to its differences with Turkey on the
recognition of a historic issue, namely, the massacre of Armenians
by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Its
government insists on Turkey admitting that the Ottoman Turks murdered
more than 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917. The successive
Turkish governments, nevertheless, have not shown any obvious changes
in their attitude, and only refer to it as something untoward that
had occurred during the disintegration process of the Ottoman Empire
and that a death toll of 1.5 millions was an exaggeration and even
those Turks with abnormal deaths during that period was definitely
no less than the number of lost Armenians. So gaps in the historical
recognition of the Armenian genocide pose the biggest obstacle to
the normalization of relations between the two nations.

The thawing of bilateral ties derives from their respective needs for
economic development. Armenia is a small, land-locked nation in Central
Asia and its sole adjacent outlet to the Black Sea is under control
of Turkey, which, however, has had a closed border with Armenia. For
a land-locked nation like Armenia, it is imperative to access to a
sea outlet in its neighboring country. So Armenia has to rely heavily
on Turkey in this regard, but the latter has since 1993 imposed a
trade embargo against it and caused it grave economic losses. Hence,
whether it is able to improve its relations with Turkey will directly
affect its economic interests.

To Turkey, the Armenian genocide is indeed a "fast knot" that prevents
it from getting access to negotiations on its entry into the European
Union (EU) and has long tarnished its image in Europe. So it is of
incalculable, practical significance for Turkey, which is both eager
and anxious to join EU, to improve its relations with Armenia and
gradually forge normal diplomatic ties.

A "soccer diplomacy" game alone cannot dissolve or dispel nearly a
century-old grudges between the two nations as a matter of course. In
spite of desires for the development of their bilateral relations,
both sides are faced with strong resistances from the antagonistic
mood and ensuing education that have been shaped and deep-rooted over
a long period of time.

Upon the arrival of the Turkish president in the Armenian capital,
hundreds or even thousands of Armenians that had lined the route of
President Abdulla Gul’s motorcade from Yerevan airport to the city
proper, were seen holding placards in protest against Ankara’s refusal
to consider the 1915-1917 atrocities as crimes… At the presence
of Gul at the World Cup qualifier match, many Armenian fans booed
and hissed the game and even the playing of the Turkish national
anthem. Meanwhile, there are also a lot of voices in opposition to
reconciliation in Turkey as well. Consequently, it seems that the
betterment of bilateral ties will eventually hinge on the common
understanding of nationals in both countries on this major political
issue.

Moreover, the relaxation of Turkey-Armenia ties has drawn increasingly
extensive attention from global public opinions partly because of
another vital backdrop on the Russia-Georgia conflict. President
Gul mentioned particularly during his visit that the improvement
of bilateral ties will be conducive to stability and cooperation
in the Caucasus region. Turkey is a member nation of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while Armenia is on a good,
intimate terms with Russia and also in very good terms with NATO,
though it does not intend to join it. The present Turkish-Armenian
ties anyhow reflect trends and changes of geopolitics in the South
Caucasus region, and they deserve special attention.