EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Armenia, Turkey Put Differences Aside for Soccer

EURASIA INSIGHT

ARMENIA, TURKEY PUT DIFFERENCES ASIDE FOR SOCCER
Marianna Grigoryan 9/05/08

A football match could possibly give a kick-start to efforts by Armenia and Turkey to normalize relations. On September 6, Turkish President Abdullah Gul will travel to Yerevan to watch a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match between Armenia and Turkey, thus becoming the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia.

Scheduled to arrive in Yerevan two hours before the game starts at 9.00 pm local time, President Gul is slated to dine with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan before the two attend the game at Yerevan’s reconstructed Hrazdan football stadium. Gul will return to Turkey following the end of the match. Gul’s visit will take place amid high security, and he will watch the qualifying match from behind bullet-proof glass.

After months of speculation, confirmation that Gul had accepted President Sarkisian’s invitation only came on September 3. Opposition politicians and government officials alike in Yerevan voiced hope that the football game could create a long-awaited diplomatic breakthrough in relations, which have been marked by enmity since Armenia gained independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse. Turkey closed its border with Armenia and broke off diplomatic ties following Armenia’s 1988-1994 war with Azerbaijan, a strong Turkish ally, over the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The visit of the Turkish president is the most important political event for Armenia," commented senior Republic Party member Suren Sureniants. "The visit will have an indirect influence not only on our foreign, but also on domestic policy and will lead to the start of new relations."

As a sign of that outlook, the opposition movement led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian postponed for a week a rally that had been planned for September 5 in Yerevan. "We should establish normal, good-neighborly relations with Turkey without preconditions," Ter-Petrosian said at a recent press conference. "When I said this [earlier], they would say what treachery it is. And now, they keep repeating it night and day," he said in reference to government officials. Not all Armenian politicians feel the same, however. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun), a traditional nationalist party, has vowed to mount protests against Gul’s visit. Similar demonstrations have been threatened in Turkey, too.

Centrist Turkish media outlets have been generally supportive of Gul’s pending visit. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan -- a close Turkish ally, as well as a bitter enemy of Armenia -- has given its official blessing to the trip. On September 4, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijani leaders "welcome this initiative positively," the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

A September 3 statement from Gul’s office noted that the Turkish president had accepted Sarkisian’s invitation to "create a new climate of friendship in the region" and to "lift the obstacles preventing the coming together of two peoples who share a common history."

The statement echoes sentiments expressed by Sargsyan, who in a July 8 Wall St. Journal commentary, entitled "We Are Ready to Talk to Turkey," expressed a desire for "a new phase of dialogue with the government and people of Turkey, with the goal of normalizing relations and opening our common border."

Although officials in both countries seem eager to explore a rapprochement, there are many on both sides who remain suspicious. Ruben Safrastian, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, is among the skeptics in Yerevan who do not believe the visit will live up to its hype. Safrastian argues that Turkey is not prepared to deviate dramatically from its current policy on Armenia. Gul’s last-minute decision to accept Sarkisian’s invitation was more likely dictated both by regional tensions linked to Russia’s war with Georgia, and by an upcoming debate in the US Congress about Ottoman Turkey’s 1915 slaughter of thousands of ethnic Armenians, Safrastian suggested.

"There may be some small change that will result in some thaw between the two countries, however, Gul will try to use the visit to strengthen his positions in the region," Safrastian said. "The Turks will use this visit to prove their goodwill. However, in reality, they will do everything to use it in their interest."

As for the actual football qualifying match, coaches and players are not trying to allow politics to intrude on the competition. "We footballers think quickly and we like to play quickly. But it would slow us down if we tried to take history’s weight on our shoulders. That would ruin our game," the Turkish Daily News quoted Turkey’s head coach, Fatih Terim as saying. Added Armenia’s head coach, Jan Poulsen, a longtime Danish soccer manager, at a September 4 press conference: "We are in a good form at this moment. We feel determined and will do our best."

Editor's Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the ArmeniaNow.com weekly in Yerevan.

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