Armenia-Turkey relations have begun relaxing with an impetus of the "soccer diplomacy". Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul Serzh to the Armenian capital of Yerevan to watch a soccer match, or the historic World Cup qualifier match held between the Turkish and Armenian teams, and the two leaders enjoyed the match in the stadium in early September.
Soon afterwards, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that his country would work for the establishment of diplomatic ties with Turkey. He spoke highly of the visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, which, he noted, had opened broad vistas for the dialogue between the leaders of the two nations. As both countries border on Georgia, their reconciliation will exert a great impact on geopolitics in the Caucasus.
Since the announcement of its independence in 1991, Armenian, a former Soviet republic, has still not forged its normal diplomatic ties with Turkey to date owing to its differences with Turkey on the recognition of a historic issue, namely, the massacre of Armenians by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Its government insists on Turkey admitting that the Ottoman Turks murdered more than 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917. The successive Turkish governments, nevertheless, have not shown any obvious changes in their attitude, and only refer to it as something untoward that had occurred during the disintegration process of the Ottoman Empire and that a death toll of 1.5 millions was an exaggeration and even those Turks with abnormal deaths during that period was definitely no less than the number of lost Armenians. So gaps in the historical recognition of the Armenian genocide pose the biggest obstacle to the normalization of relations between the two nations.
The thawing of bilateral ties derives from their respective needs for economic development. Armenia is a small, land-locked nation in Central Asia and its sole adjacent outlet to the Black Sea is under control of Turkey, which, however, has had a closed border with Armenia. For a land-locked nation like Armenia, it is imperative to access to a sea outlet in its neighboring country. So Armenia has to rely heavily on Turkey in this regard, but the latter has since 1993 imposed a trade embargo against it and caused it grave economic losses. Hence, whether it is able to improve its relations with Turkey will directly affect its economic interests.
To Turkey, the Armenian genocide is indeed a "fast knot" that prevents it from getting access to negotiations on its entry into the European Union (EU) and has long tarnished its image in Europe. So it is of incalculable, practical significance for Turkey, which is both eager and anxious to join EU, to improve its relations with Armenia and gradually forge normal diplomatic ties.
A "soccer diplomacy" game alone cannot dissolve or dispel nearly a century-old grudges between the two nations as a matter of course. In spite of desires for the development of their bilateral relations, both sides are faced with strong resistances from the antagonistic mood and ensuing education that have been shaped and deep-rooted over a long period of time.
Upon the arrival of the Turkish president in the Armenian capital, hundreds or even thousands of Armenians that had lined the route of President Abdulla Gul's motorcade from Yerevan airport to the city proper, were seen holding placards in protest against Ankara's refusal to consider the 1915-1917 atrocities as crimes… At the presence of Gul at the World Cup qualifier match, many Armenian fans booed and hissed the game and even the playing of the Turkish national anthem. Meanwhile, there are also a lot of voices in opposition to reconciliation in Turkey as well. Consequently, it seems that the betterment of bilateral ties will eventually hinge on the common understanding of nationals in both countries on this major political issue.
Moreover, the relaxation of Turkey-Armenia ties has drawn increasingly extensive attention from global public opinions partly because of another vital backdrop on the Russia-Georgia conflict. President Gul mentioned particularly during his visit that the improvement of bilateral ties will be conducive to stability and cooperation in the Caucasus region. Turkey is a member nation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while Armenia is on a good, intimate terms with Russia and also in very good terms with NATO, though it does not intend to join it. The present Turkish-Armenian ties anyhow reflect trends and changes of geopolitics in the South Caucasus region, and they deserve special attention.
By People's Daily Online, and its author is PD reporter Yang Jun
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