THE JOURNEY IS HALFWAY OVER
By Hasan Cemal
Turkish Press
Sept 8 2008
MILLIYET- Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian started a
working lunch we had yesterday by saying that we had witnessed a
historic day via ‘football diplomacy.’ He described the meeting of
President Abdullah Gul and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian on
Saturday and the national match they watched together as a milestone
and a very good beginning.
Nalbandian said that a mentality change had taken place among the
peoples of both countries, which he said was raising expectations,
adding that from now on positive developments will seen as there
is a willingness and determination towards this end. He said
that on Saturday he and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan had met for
two-and-a-half-hours as directed by their respective presidents and
would meet later this month as well (at the UN in New York). Nalbandian
added that this showed the determination and seriousness about
developing bilateral relations.
Stating that the new process of dialogue opened by their presidents
would be continued by the foreign ministers, Nalbandian said that
he believed he and Babacan would talk about concrete proposals
soon. Radikal daily’s Cengiz Candar asked whether ‘demons’ might
derail this dialogue, if it goes on for some time without any tangible
fruit. Along these lines, I asked Sarkisian what his most concrete
and immediate expectations were. Without hesitation, he said opening
the border and establishing diplomatic relations.
When I related this to Nalbandian, he said that the Turkish side also
expects the same, as opening the borders and establishing diplomatic
relations are obviously in our interest as well. He added that on
Saturday the presidents had finished the journey halfway and that the
rest of it would be completed by the foreign ministers. Nalbandian
also assured us that he was talking about concrete steps with Babacan
and that the faster they move forward, the better it would be.
Nalbandian also took issue with analysts who say that Russia doesn’t
want a rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia , saying that Moscow
also favors improved relations. He added that Turkish-Armenian
relations should improve for the sake of stability and security in
the region. Nalbandian said the two foreign ministers had sketched
out an implied ‘road map,’ but gave no details. He said certain issues
wouldn’t be shared with the public until they have something concrete
to show. He added that previous barriers had been eliminated and that
the road was now wide open.
Stating that the entire world had focused its attention in South
Ossetia in the wake of the conflict there, Nalbandian then brought
up the issue of Upper Karabakh between his country and Azerbaijan ,
saying that both the region and the world at large want the issue to
be solved not through the use of force, but through peaceful means. He
added that his country also favors this and that a military solution
would solve nothing but only make the situation worse. Nalbandian
said that intensive meetings with Azerbaijan on the Karabakh issue
were underway and that he thought they were very close to a solution.
On the second national match between Turkey and Armenia set to
take place in Istanbul about a year from now, in October 2009,
Nalbandian said Sarkisian would go to Istanbul to see the match and
that this visit would be a historic one, just like the visit paid
by Gul. He added that it wouldn’t be right to subject establishing
diplomatic relations or opening borders between the two countries to
preconditions. Asked if the ‘genocide’ issue would be raised later,
as it wasn’t during the meeting on Saturday, Nalbandian said that
there shouldn’t be any taboo issues and that they should be able to
discuss any issue or problem in an open, friendly and free way.
As for other issues discussed yesterday by Nalbanian with journalists
from national dailies like Milliyet, Yeni Safak, Star and Sabah,
Nalbandian said that they support Turkey’s European Union membership,
predicted that trade would soar if the borders were opened, and added
that he wholly supports our premier’s proposal for a Caucasus stability
and peace platform.