The Associated Press
Sept 5 2008
Turkey, Armenia try to mend ties through soccer
By SUZAN FRASER
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ‘ Turkey and Armenia are hoping soccer diplomacy
will help them overcome decades of antagonism rooted in Ottoman-era
massacres of Armenians that many historians call a genocide.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul travels to Armenia on Saturday to
attend a soccer match between the two historic foes ‘ becoming the
first Turkish leader to set foot in Armenia since the former Soviet
republic declared independence in 1991.
Although Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s
independence, the two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their
border has been closed since 1993.
Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by
genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey
disputes it was genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those
killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
More recently, ties have been frozen over Turkey’s opposition to
Armenia’s support for ethnic Armenians who control the breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.
Little progress is expected on the genocide issue or on
Nagorno-Karabakh when Gul meets with Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian on the sidelines of the 2010 World Cup qualifier match ‘ in
which Turkey is heavily favored.
But the visit is heralded as sign of a thaw.
"This visit will contribute ‘ even if slightly ‘ to an improvement in
the lack of confidence between the two countries," wrote Semih Idiz, a
foreign affairs commentator for the newspaper Milliyet. "Taking up
tougher issues will only be possible after this."
Gul’s last-minute decision to accept Armenia’s July invitation to the
match may be linked to Turkey’s desire to carve out a regional
peacemaker role amid tensions sparked by Russia’s invasion of
neighboring Georgia.
Turkey, a NATO member, has cause for alarm about how Russia’s
recognition of the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia might inspire its own separatist Kurds, or provoke Armenia to
boost support for the separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In the wake of the Georgia conflict, Turkey has proposed a regional
grouping for stability in the Caucasus ‘ and closer ties with Armenia
is essential for its success. The grouping would include Russia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Since the end of the Cold War, Turkey has mended relations with all
its neighbors except Armenia, gradually improving ties with
traditional rivals such as Greece, Bulgaria and Syria.
Improved links with Armenia are likely to help lift strains on
Turkey’s relations with other countries that have or plan to formally
recognize the massacres as genocide.
Turkey canceled military contracts with France last year after that
country announced plans to make denying the genocide a crime. In
October, a U.S. congressional measure to declare the Armenian deaths
as genocide was stopped after the Bush administration warned it would
damage relations with Turkey, an important ally in this region.
Turkey’s two major opposition parties have objected to Gul’s trip,
claiming it does not serve national interests. Gul justified his
decision by saying the visit would "contribute to the creation of a
climate of friendship in the region."
No hordes of fans from this soccer-crazy country are expected to
travel to Armenia for the game, and even politicians who usually watch
Turkey play abroad will not make the trip.
Turks still harbor animosity toward Armenia over the killing of dozens
of Turkish diplomats by an Armenian terrorist group, ASALA, in the
1970s and 1980s, vengeance for the World War I-era Armenian massacres.
While the match is hotly anticipated in Armenia, with TV stations
urging fans to attend, a nationalist party planned demonstrations
against Gul’s visit.
Turkey coach Fatih Terim warned this week that the political tensions
could distract the team.
"We are going to a football match, not to war," he said. "We cannot
bear the weight of history on our shoulders, that would slow us down
… It will mess up our play."
Gul, foreign minister in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
government before being elected president last year, has favored
improved ties with Armenia. The current foreign minister, Ali Babacan,
has confirmed there have been informal contacts between the two
countries "from time to time."
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of Ankara, in order to pressure
the Armenians into ending the conflict.
The move has hurt the economy of landlocked Armenia, which has called
on Turkey to reopen the border crossing.
Armenia’s bitter relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey have resulted in
the small country being excluded from energy pipelines that connect
Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia. Armenia has also been kept out of a
railway project that will link the three.
Armenians, supported by numerous scholars, claim an organized genocide
was carried out in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire and are
pushing for the killings to be recognized as among history’s worst
atrocities.
Turkey has called for the establishment of an international committee
of scholars to study the events in a bid to improve ties, but Armenia
has declined to consider this until relations are forged.
Associated Press writer Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia,
contributed to this report.