The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
October 17, 2009 Saturday

EDITORIAL: Burying old hatred

Oct. 17–LONG-TIME antagonists Turkey and Armenia have taken measures
to substantively improved their relations, although the line they
walked has to be seen as two steps forward, one step back.

Problems between the countries date to the time of the Ottomans, when
Armenian Christians were one of the minorities within the Turkish and
Muslim-ruled empire. The sharp point in Turkish-Armenian relations
occurred in 1915, when Turks killed as many as 1 million Armenians in
what some have called an act of genocide.

Being accused of genocide, even though it was under a very different
regime and occurred 94 years ago, is bad enough for Turkey. What has
been the most painful part, as the Turks have sought to modernize
their country, is that the charge has sometimes been an arrow in the
quiver of those in the European Union who oppose Turkish accession for
other reasons. These include its size, its relative poverty, and the
fact that it would be the first predominantly Muslim member of an EU
made up of at least nominally Christian countries.

Turkey has defended itself stoutly, not only because it wants to join
the EU but also because it feels strongly that it is no longer the
Turkey that carried out heinous acts against the Armenians almost a
century ago.

The most recent chapter in efforts to restore some normalcy to
Turkish-Armenian relations occurred last week when negotiations
between Armenia and Turkey were signed and sealed. The Swiss had
mediated; the accord had been encouraged by France, Russia, and the
United States, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on hand for
the ceremony. Part of the agreement is that the border between the two
countries, closed since 1993, would be reopened.

The accord must be ratified by the parliaments of the two countries
before it goes into effect. Hardliners on both sides likely will
oppose it, even though it is to the economic advantage of both.

The United States has an interest in the matter since it bears on
routes for oil and gas pipelines and possible supply routes to
Afghanistan. Armenian-Americans, estimated at 1.4 million, are also
likely to oppose it, complicating U.S. policy.

In case anyone thought the route to agreement would be easy from here,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Armenia
must withdraw its troops from the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

That quarrel is a hardy perennial, having resisted resolution for more
than two decades now. Two steps forward, one step back.