Armenia and Turkey normalise ties

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/8299712.stm

Published: 2009/10/10 18:23:15 GMT

Turkey and Armenia have signed a historic accord normalising relations
after a century of hostility.

The deal was signed by the two foreign ministers after last-minute
problems delayed the ceremony in Switzerland.

Under the agreement, Turkey and Armenia are to resume diplomatic ties
and re-open their shared border.

The accord has been met by protests in Armenia, where many people say
it does not fully address the 1915 killing of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians.

Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide,
but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.

The agreement calls for a joint commission of independent historians to
study the genocide issue.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Armenian counterpart,
Edward Nalbandian, signed the protocols in Switzerland after a delay of
more than two hours.

The BBC’s Kim Ghattas in Zurich says the Armenians had apparently
raised objections to a statement due to be read out by the Turkish
delegation.

The accord needs to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

The ceremony was attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the EU’s High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana.

International campaign

On Friday thousands of people protested against the deal in the
Armenian capital, Yerevan.

HAVE YOUR SAY It is in the best interest of both countries that they
forget about the past and start a new era in their relationship Abdul
Malik Niazi, Kabul

"The international recognition of the Armenian genocide will be
hindered by this signature, or ratification," said Vahan Hovanissyan, a
member of parliament for the nationalist Dashnak Tsutyun party.

One protester told the BBC he was not opposed to the opening of the
border, but was "against the setting up of a commission that will allow
Turkey to further postpone declaring the killings as genocide".

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were
deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman empire. They
were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.

Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised
internationally as genocide – and more than 20 countries have done so.

Turkey admits that many Armenians were killed but says the deaths were
part of the widespread fighting that took place in World War I.

A roadmap for normalising relations between Turkey and Armenia was
agreed in April.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 because of its war with
Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh.