TURKEY: ANKARA TRIES TO KEEP ARMENIA-AZERBAIJANI FEUD OFF THE SOCCER FIELD

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10/07/09

Anxious to keep politics out of a World Cup qualifying match between
Turkey and Armenia, municipal authorities in Bursa, the Turkish
city that will host the match, reportedly want to ban the display of
Azerbaijani flags in the stadium on game day, Turkish and Azerbaijani
media outlets are reporting.

The match is scheduled to be played on October 14, four days after
Ankara and Yerevan are expected to sign a framework agreement
for rapprochement. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive]. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan may attend the game.

Turkish ally Azerbaijan, locked in a bitter dispute with Armenia over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region, is watching closely from the sidelines.

Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Hulusi Kilic, denied the reports of
a flag ban, but admitted that Turkish authorities will try to prevent
inflammatory gestures at the game, the APA news agency reported on
October 7. "This is pure soccer, with no politics. Politics is not
pertinent here," Kilic told APA in an attempt to assuage Azerbaijani
anger.