President Gul's Short Visit to Armenia
TURKISH PRESIDENT GUL TO PAY A HISTORIC VISIT TO ARMENIA ON SATURDAY
Hurriyet
Sept 4 2008
Turkey
President Abdullah Gul will on Saturday become the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia, his office said, taking an important step to restart diplomatic relations between two neighboring countries.
Gul will go to Yerevan to attend a football match between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations
Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian invited Gul last month to attend the qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals to mark "a new symbolic start in the countries' relations". Turkish diplomats and security officials have been in Yerevan this week making final preparations.
"A visit around this match can create a new climate of friendship in the region," the Turkish presidency said in a statement posted on its website. "It is with this in mind that the president has accepted the invitation.
"This match could lift the obstacles blocking the coming together of two peoples who share a common history and can create a new foundation," it said.
The Turkish presidency said it hoped the visit means "an opportunity for a better mutual understanding."
Gul will arrive in Yerevan two hours before the match and go directly to the office of Sargsyan. The meeting of two presidents is expected to last for one hour.
Gul is expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and Turkey's proposal for establishing a Caucasus alliance with Sargsyan. If they do, this would be the first time that the Nagorno- Karabakh issue is on the agenda of a bilateral meeting.
Turkish delegation will leave Yerevan as soon as the match ends.
Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations between two countries, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's
call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue.
ARMENIA WELCOMED
Sarkisian earlier welcomed a Turkish proposal for a new forum in the volatile Caucasus region after meeting a senior Turkish envoy to prepare the visit.
"Armenia has always welcomed and welcomes all efforts directed at the strengthening of confidence, stability and security, and at deepening cooperation in the region," Sarkisian said in a statement after meeting Gul's special envoy Unal Cevikoz.
He added that Gul's special envoy Unal Cevikoz's visit "raises the possibility of talks to settle mutual relations" between the two countries.
A warming period had started between two neighboring countries when the two presidents exchanged letters after Sargsyan's election victory. Gul's visit raised hopes that the two major problems, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia's genocide claims, could be solved through dialogue.
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a tentative first step towards resolving the thorny genocide issue by mooting that a joint commission of historians launch an investigation and publish their conclusions.
The proposal was rejected by Yerevan. Turkey hopes the establishment of such a commission would enlight the 1915 incidents.
Armenia, with the backing of the Diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. Turkey rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with at least as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.
TURKISH-ARMENIAN FOOTBALL DIPLOMACYTURKISH PRESIDENT
ABDULLAH GUL'S VISIT TO ARMENIA THIS WEEKEND SIGNALS THAT
TENSIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES ARE COOLING
Stephen Kinzer
guardian.co.uk
Wednesday September 03 2008
The announcement this week that President Abdullah Gul of Turkey will visit Armenia on Saturday suggests that the long and highly emotional estrangement between these two neighbours might finally be ending.
That would be a spectacular breakthrough for both countries. Turkey is assuming a new and promising role as a peacemaker in the Middle East and the Caucasus, but cannot be fully effective as long as it is feuding with a neighbour. Armenia is wretchedly poor and isolated,
and could begin to reconnect with the wider world through a new partnership with Turkey.
There have never been high-level negotiations between these two countries, so Gul's visit can safely be described as historic. Officially he is going to attend a football match between Turkish and Armenian teams. He has let it be known, however, that he intends to do some serious negotiating with his host, President Serge Sarkisian.
"I met him in Kazahkstan," Gul told me in Istanbul last month. "I told him, 'We are the sons of this land, you see, and we have to solve our problems, not with hostile feelings - we should not feed hostile feelings.' I saw him reasonable."
Turkey was among the first countries to recognise Armenia after it became independent in 1990, but closed its land border three years later after Armenian fighters seized the Nagorno- Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Gul is likely to discuss ways to resolve this long-festering dispute.
Turkey is paying great attention to regional security issues these days, and the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia has riveted its attention. In its wake, Turkey has proposed that all countries in the region join in a new Caucasian Stability and Cooperation Pact. Such a pact, however, would not be credible without Armenia's participation.
Turkey's rise to regional-power status has been possible only because it has dramatically improved its relations with its neighbours. Armenia is the sole exception. For more than a decade, Turkey has sought to isolate Armenia by keeping it out of regional groupings and cutting it out of oil pipeline plans. Strategists in Ankara have concluded that this policy is no longer viable. They now appear willing to seek compromise.
Whether the two leaders can make substantial progress this weekend is not the only uncertainty surrounding Gul's trip. Armenian nationalists, who match their Turkish counterparts in fanaticism, are outraged by the prospect of his visit. Some may try to disrupt the match or set off protests inside the stadium. Turkey's ruling party has denied permission for a group of its leading members to attend the match, citing security concerns.
Youth groups from the two countries, though, are planning to stage pro-peace demonstrations in and around the stadium. In Yerevan, the effort is being led by young radio announcers, one of whom told a Turkish newspaper that the time had come "to start dialogue and share our pain". That led a Turkish group called Young Civilians to organise a 50-member delegation that plans to wave peace banners at the stadium.
"We do not need official ideologies any more," the group said in a statement. "There, in that stadium, we will stand shoulder to shoulder."
Some of Turkey's powerful military commanders are said to be troubled by the idea of better Turkish-Armenian relations. So are some in the Armenian disapora, who want Turkey to admit the role that Ottoman leaders played in organising the massacre of Armenians in 1915. Within
Armenia, however, most people are focused on their own troubles. A poll last year found that only 4% of Armenians think that what Turkey says or does not say about the massacre 93 years ago should matter today.
The authorities in Yerevan had to rein in the diaspora this summer.
Armenian-Americans, who have powerful influence in Washington, had managed for months to block the US Senate's approval of a new ambassador to Armenia because the nominee refused to describe the killings of 1915 as genocide.
Armenian leaders, however, decided they needed an American ambassador in Yerevan, and arranged for their friends in Washington to call off their campaign and allow the new ambassador to be confirmed.
By agreeing to begin top-level discussions, Turkey and Armenia are seeking to break the awful grip that history has on their relationship. They are realising that better relations would have
dramatically positive effects on both sides of their long-sealed border - and perhaps far beyond.
AZERBAIJANIS SPLIT OVER TURKISH PRESIDENT'S YEREVAN VISIT
Hurriye
Sept 3 2008
Turkey
The Azerbaijani-Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Working Group will discuss Turkish President Abdullah Gul's expected visit to Armenia, an Azerian news agency reported on Wednesday.
"During discussions, there are sharp opposers and supporters of Turkish President's visit to Armenia," the head of the Working Group, MP Nizami Jafarov, told TrendNews.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited Gul to Armenia to watch together the 2010 World Cup qualifying round game between the two countries national teams on Sept. 6 to mark "a new symbolic start in the countries' relations".
Gul's close circles and recent reports claim the Turkish president would accept the invitation and travel to Yerevan to watch the game. But Turkish officials have refrained from revealing the final
decision until the last moment.
If Gul visits Yerevan, Turkey, which has no established diplomatic relations with its neighbour Armenia, therefore would have formal contact at the presidential level on the occasion of the football match.
The public of Azerbaijan attentively follows whether Turkey will
accept the invitation extended by Armenia, TrendNews reported.
Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations between the two countries, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue.
Jafarov said any change in either Azerbaijan or Turkey's attitude towards these or other questions can not change the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Azeri news agency reported. He added it deals with the tactical change in Turkey's attitude towards the Armenian problem.
The Azeri MP said the whole world is concerned by the non-solution on the Armenian problem for such authoritative countries as Turkey and Azerbaijan, and added that therefore such accelerative attempts may be made.
"The development of events shows that the Turkish president's taking such a step in the attitude towards Armenia is a tactical move. This does not change its attitude towards Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will not change its attitude towards Turkey due to such a step. The matter is that a new period has already begun in the attitude towards the Armenian issue. This is Turkey's initial steps. But I think that it is impossible to make claims that with this, Turkey will make concessions to Armenia, change its policy, implement dictate of great forces," Jafarov said.
The MP does not believe that in the present condition, Turkey will pursue a policy strengthening Armenia because Armenia's attitude towards Turkey is clear, according to TrendNews. Turkey can not take revenge in the face of Armenia's aggression, Jafarov told the agency.
Stephen Kinzer
guardian.co.uk
Wednesday September 03 2008
The announcement this week that President Abdullah Gul of Turkey will visit Armenia on Saturday suggests that the long and highly emotional estrangement between these two neighbours might finally be ending.
That would be a spectacular breakthrough for both countries. Turkey is assuming a new and promising role as a peacemaker in the Middle East and the Caucasus, but cannot be fully effective as long as it is feuding with a neighbour. Armenia is wretchedly poor and isolated,
and could begin to reconnect with the wider world through a new partnership with Turkey.
There have never been high-level negotiations between these two countries, so Gul's visit can safely be described as historic. Officially he is going to attend a football match between Turkish and Armenian teams. He has let it be known, however, that he intends to do some serious negotiating with his host, President Serge Sarkisian.
"I met him in Kazahkstan," Gul told me in Istanbul last month. "I told him, 'We are the sons of this land, you see, and we have to solve our problems, not with hostile feelings - we should not feed hostile feelings.' I saw him reasonable."
Turkey was among the first countries to recognise Armenia after it became independent in 1990, but closed its land border three years later after Armenian fighters seized the Nagorno- Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Gul is likely to discuss ways to resolve this long-festering dispute.
Turkey is paying great attention to regional security issues these days, and the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia has riveted its attention. In its wake, Turkey has proposed that all countries in the region join in a new Caucasian Stability and Cooperation Pact. Such a pact, however, would not be credible without Armenia's participation.
Turkey's rise to regional-power status has been possible only because it has dramatically improved its relations with its neighbours. Armenia is the sole exception. For more than a decade, Turkey has sought to isolate Armenia by keeping it out of regional groupings and cutting it out of oil pipeline plans. Strategists in Ankara have concluded that this policy is no longer viable. They now appear willing to seek compromise.
Whether the two leaders can make substantial progress this weekend is not the only uncertainty surrounding Gul's trip. Armenian nationalists, who match their Turkish counterparts in fanaticism, are outraged by the prospect of his visit. Some may try to disrupt the match or set off protests inside the stadium. Turkey's ruling party has denied permission for a group of its leading members to attend the match, citing security concerns.
Youth groups from the two countries, though, are planning to stage pro-peace demonstrations in and around the stadium. In Yerevan, the effort is being led by young radio announcers, one of whom told a Turkish newspaper that the time had come "to start dialogue and share our pain". That led a Turkish group called Young Civilians to organise a 50-member delegation that plans to wave peace banners at the stadium.
"We do not need official ideologies any more," the group said in a statement. "There, in that stadium, we will stand shoulder to shoulder."
Some of Turkey's powerful military commanders are said to be troubled by the idea of better Turkish-Armenian relations. So are some in the Armenian disapora, who want Turkey to admit the role that Ottoman leaders played in organising the massacre of Armenians in 1915. Within
Armenia, however, most people are focused on their own troubles. A poll last year found that only 4% of Armenians think that what Turkey says or does not say about the massacre 93 years ago should matter today.
The authorities in Yerevan had to rein in the diaspora this summer.
Armenian-Americans, who have powerful influence in Washington, had managed for months to block the US Senate's approval of a new ambassador to Armenia because the nominee refused to describe the killings of 1915 as genocide.
Armenian leaders, however, decided they needed an American ambassador in Yerevan, and arranged for their friends in Washington to call off their campaign and allow the new ambassador to be confirmed.
By agreeing to begin top-level discussions, Turkey and Armenia are seeking to break the awful grip that history has on their relationship. They are realising that better relations would have
dramatically positive effects on both sides of their long-sealed border - and perhaps far beyond.
AZERBAIJANIS SPLIT OVER TURKISH PRESIDENT'S YEREVAN VISIT
Hurriye
Sept 3 2008
Turkey
The Azerbaijani-Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Working Group will discuss Turkish President Abdullah Gul's expected visit to Armenia, an Azerian news agency reported on Wednesday.
"During discussions, there are sharp opposers and supporters of Turkish President's visit to Armenia," the head of the Working Group, MP Nizami Jafarov, told TrendNews.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan invited Gul to Armenia to watch together the 2010 World Cup qualifying round game between the two countries national teams on Sept. 6 to mark "a new symbolic start in the countries' relations".
Gul's close circles and recent reports claim the Turkish president would accept the invitation and travel to Yerevan to watch the game. But Turkish officials have refrained from revealing the final
decision until the last moment.
If Gul visits Yerevan, Turkey, which has no established diplomatic relations with its neighbour Armenia, therefore would have formal contact at the presidential level on the occasion of the football match.
The public of Azerbaijan attentively follows whether Turkey will
accept the invitation extended by Armenia, TrendNews reported.
Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations between the two countries, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue.
Jafarov said any change in either Azerbaijan or Turkey's attitude towards these or other questions can not change the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Azeri news agency reported. He added it deals with the tactical change in Turkey's attitude towards the Armenian problem.
The Azeri MP said the whole world is concerned by the non-solution on the Armenian problem for such authoritative countries as Turkey and Azerbaijan, and added that therefore such accelerative attempts may be made.
"The development of events shows that the Turkish president's taking such a step in the attitude towards Armenia is a tactical move. This does not change its attitude towards Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will not change its attitude towards Turkey due to such a step. The matter is that a new period has already begun in the attitude towards the Armenian issue. This is Turkey's initial steps. But I think that it is impossible to make claims that with this, Turkey will make concessions to Armenia, change its policy, implement dictate of great forces," Jafarov said.
The MP does not believe that in the present condition, Turkey will pursue a policy strengthening Armenia because Armenia's attitude towards Turkey is clear, according to TrendNews. Turkey can not take revenge in the face of Armenia's aggression, Jafarov told the agency.
ARMENIAN LEADER MEETS TURKISH PRESIDENT'S ENVOY IN YEREVAN
Mediamax
Sept 3 2008
Armenia
Yerevan, 3 September: Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received the special envoy of the Turkish president, Unal Cevikoz, in Yerevan today.
They discussed Turkish President Abdullah Gul's expected visit [on 6 September] to Armenia to jointly watch a football match between the national teams of the two countries, the presidential press service has told Mediamax.
Sargsyan described as positive the visit of the Turkish president'sspecial envoy. The Armenian president noted that it created an opportunity to discuss issues concerning the normalization of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional problems.
The two men also discussed Turkey's initiative on setting up a "Caucasian platform of peace and stability". Noting that the Turkish prime minister came up with a difficult but extremely important initiative, the Armenian president said that he was in favour of discussing any problems.
"Armenia welcomes all the efforts aimed at strengthening confidence, stability and security, as well as expanding cooperation in the region," the president said. Sargsyan also expressed his opinion with regard to the proposal on setting up the "Caucasian platform of peace and stability".
[Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 0703 gmt 3 Sep 08 said that Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan had met the Turkish president's special envoy Unal Cevikoz. They discussed details of Turkish President Abdullah Gul's forthcoming visit to Armenia, the agency said.]
Mediamax
Sept 3 2008
Armenia
Yerevan, 3 September: Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received the special envoy of the Turkish president, Unal Cevikoz, in Yerevan today.
They discussed Turkish President Abdullah Gul's expected visit [on 6 September] to Armenia to jointly watch a football match between the national teams of the two countries, the presidential press service has told Mediamax.
Sargsyan described as positive the visit of the Turkish president'sspecial envoy. The Armenian president noted that it created an opportunity to discuss issues concerning the normalization of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional problems.
The two men also discussed Turkey's initiative on setting up a "Caucasian platform of peace and stability". Noting that the Turkish prime minister came up with a difficult but extremely important initiative, the Armenian president said that he was in favour of discussing any problems.
"Armenia welcomes all the efforts aimed at strengthening confidence, stability and security, as well as expanding cooperation in the region," the president said. Sargsyan also expressed his opinion with regard to the proposal on setting up the "Caucasian platform of peace and stability".
[Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 0703 gmt 3 Sep 08 said that Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan had met the Turkish president's special envoy Unal Cevikoz. They discussed details of Turkish President Abdullah Gul's forthcoming visit to Armenia, the agency said.]
Gul Criticized Over Planned Armenia Visit
By Burak Akinci, Agence France Presse
President Abdullah Gul on Saturday becomes Turkey's first head of state to visit Armenia, but his bid to ease relations with a historic foe that accuses Turks of genocide has angered nationalists.
Gul will go to Yerevan to attend a football match between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations and remain deeply divided over the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
"A visit around this match can create a new climate of friendship in the region," the Turkish presidency said in a statement. "It's with this in mind that the president has accepted the invitation."
The two countries will face off in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals and Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian invited Gul last month to attend.
While some in the Turkish media have hailed the visit as historic and a potential breakthrough, the trip remains highly controversial. Amid a wave of opposition criticism, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- which Gul belonged to before being elected president last year -- adopted a very cautious tone.
"I think it is very positive that the president is going. Rejecting the (Armenian) invitation would have meant sacrificing sports to politics," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in televised remarks.
State Minister Mehmet Aydin appeared to acknowledge the political significance of Gul's move. "The facts that we have do not support the theory that the visit will resolve all the problems, but it is not right to assume that nothing will come of it either," Aydin was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.
Turkey's main opposition party said Gul's decision will send the wrong signal to Armenia over its campaign for the deaths of Armenians in 1915-1917 to be recognised as "genocide".
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people were killed in orchestrated massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart before being dismantled in 1920. Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 250,000- 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil
strife as Armenians fought for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian troops.
"Armenia does not recognise Turkish borders and accuses Turkey of having carried out genocide," said Mustafa Ozyurek of the main opposition Republican People's Party. "This step will only serve to encourage the opposing party," he said, referring to Armenia.
The vice president of the MHP nationalist party, Tunca Toskay, called the visit "totally unjustified while the Turkish people are unjustly accused through lies of having committed genocide and while Armenia shows no sign of renouncing its policy in this respect."
The trip, which comes amid heightened tensions in the Caucasus region
following the conflict last month between Georgia and Russia, will only
last a few hours, a Turkish diplomatic source said. But some Turkish
media said it could be enough to begin real change in relations between
the nations, comparing it to the "ping-pong diplomacy" between the
United States and China in the 1970s.
Hasan Cemal of Milliyet newspaper proposed that a minute of silence be
observed in the stadium before the match "in memory of the tragic page
in our common history and the suffering experienced by the Armenians and
Turks in the past".
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia since it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the key reason has been Yerevan's genocide recognition campaign. In 1993, Ankara closed its border with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-majorityregion in Azerbaijan which proclaimed independence.
By Burak Akinci, Agence France Presse
President Abdullah Gul on Saturday becomes Turkey's first head of state to visit Armenia, but his bid to ease relations with a historic foe that accuses Turks of genocide has angered nationalists.
Gul will go to Yerevan to attend a football match between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations and remain deeply divided over the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
"A visit around this match can create a new climate of friendship in the region," the Turkish presidency said in a statement. "It's with this in mind that the president has accepted the invitation."
The two countries will face off in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals and Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian invited Gul last month to attend.
While some in the Turkish media have hailed the visit as historic and a potential breakthrough, the trip remains highly controversial. Amid a wave of opposition criticism, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- which Gul belonged to before being elected president last year -- adopted a very cautious tone.
"I think it is very positive that the president is going. Rejecting the (Armenian) invitation would have meant sacrificing sports to politics," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in televised remarks.
State Minister Mehmet Aydin appeared to acknowledge the political significance of Gul's move. "The facts that we have do not support the theory that the visit will resolve all the problems, but it is not right to assume that nothing will come of it either," Aydin was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.
Turkey's main opposition party said Gul's decision will send the wrong signal to Armenia over its campaign for the deaths of Armenians in 1915-1917 to be recognised as "genocide".
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people were killed in orchestrated massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart before being dismantled in 1920. Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 250,000- 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil
strife as Armenians fought for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian troops.
"Armenia does not recognise Turkish borders and accuses Turkey of having carried out genocide," said Mustafa Ozyurek of the main opposition Republican People's Party. "This step will only serve to encourage the opposing party," he said, referring to Armenia.
The vice president of the MHP nationalist party, Tunca Toskay, called the visit "totally unjustified while the Turkish people are unjustly accused through lies of having committed genocide and while Armenia shows no sign of renouncing its policy in this respect."
The trip, which comes amid heightened tensions in the Caucasus region
following the conflict last month between Georgia and Russia, will only
last a few hours, a Turkish diplomatic source said. But some Turkish
media said it could be enough to begin real change in relations between
the nations, comparing it to the "ping-pong diplomacy" between the
United States and China in the 1970s.
Hasan Cemal of Milliyet newspaper proposed that a minute of silence be
observed in the stadium before the match "in memory of the tragic page
in our common history and the suffering experienced by the Armenians and
Turks in the past".
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia since it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the key reason has been Yerevan's genocide recognition campaign. In 1993, Ankara closed its border with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-majorityregion in Azerbaijan which proclaimed independence.
ARMENIAN TEAM CHANGES EMBLEM BEFORE TURKEY MATCH
Today's Zaman
Sept 4 2008
Turkey
The Armenian national soccer team, poised to play against Turkey in a World Cup qualifying game on Saturday, will be using a new emblem featuring the figures of a tiger and a lion instead of a silhouette of Mount Agrı, also known as Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey.
Turkey and Armenia have had no formal ties since 1993. One of the conditions Ankara expects Yerevan to fulfill for normalization of relations is formal recognition of the current border with
Turkey. Turkish decision-makers are concerned that the Armenian administration has claims on Turkish territory, and the depiction of Mount Agrı on the Armenian national team emblem is seen as a sign of Armenia's desire to claim a piece of eastern Turkey. The Armenian Constitution describes Mount Agrı as a "state symbol," and Armenia's declaration of independence mentions eastern Turkey as "Western Armenia."
The new emblem of the Armenian national team was introduced to the public at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday. Speaking at the briefing Armenian Football Federation Chairman Ruben Hayrapetyan said the change of emblem was due to a demand to that effect from football fan associations, noting that the previous emblem was not popular among national team fans. An Armenian official in Yerevan told Today's Zaman that the emblem had been changed a month ago and that the new emblem will be used for the first time in the World Cup
qualifying match against Turkey. He denied, however, any link between the change and the game against Turkey.
Although officials dismiss a connection between the new emblem and the upcoming match, the change is likely to be considered a good will gesture by the Armenian side. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan invited his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to watch the game in Yerevan. Gul has not said yet whether he would attend, but he is widely expected to accept the invitation.
Today's Zaman
Sept 4 2008
Turkey
The Armenian national soccer team, poised to play against Turkey in a World Cup qualifying game on Saturday, will be using a new emblem featuring the figures of a tiger and a lion instead of a silhouette of Mount Agrı, also known as Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey.
Turkey and Armenia have had no formal ties since 1993. One of the conditions Ankara expects Yerevan to fulfill for normalization of relations is formal recognition of the current border with
Turkey. Turkish decision-makers are concerned that the Armenian administration has claims on Turkish territory, and the depiction of Mount Agrı on the Armenian national team emblem is seen as a sign of Armenia's desire to claim a piece of eastern Turkey. The Armenian Constitution describes Mount Agrı as a "state symbol," and Armenia's declaration of independence mentions eastern Turkey as "Western Armenia."
The new emblem of the Armenian national team was introduced to the public at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday. Speaking at the briefing Armenian Football Federation Chairman Ruben Hayrapetyan said the change of emblem was due to a demand to that effect from football fan associations, noting that the previous emblem was not popular among national team fans. An Armenian official in Yerevan told Today's Zaman that the emblem had been changed a month ago and that the new emblem will be used for the first time in the World Cup
qualifying match against Turkey. He denied, however, any link between the change and the game against Turkey.
Although officials dismiss a connection between the new emblem and the upcoming match, the change is likely to be considered a good will gesture by the Armenian side. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan invited his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to watch the game in Yerevan. Gul has not said yet whether he would attend, but he is widely expected to accept the invitation.
TERIM: "THIS IS JUST A GAME, NOT BATTLE"
Sabah
Aug 31 2008
Turkey
The technical director of Turkey's national team, Fatih Terim, made moderate comments on Saturday night's game against Armenia for the World Cup European Eliminations.
"Turkey's national team will not be carrying the weight of history on its shoulders in the game against Armenia. If we did so, it would slow us down and affect our game. This is the first match between the two countries in the A category. This is very important, they are using special motivation techniques in their preparations. For us, this is just a football game, not a war" said Terim.
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Sabah
Aug 31 2008
Turkey
The technical director of Turkey's national team, Fatih Terim, made moderate comments on Saturday night's game against Armenia for the World Cup European Eliminations.
"Turkey's national team will not be carrying the weight of history on its shoulders in the game against Armenia. If we did so, it would slow us down and affect our game. This is the first match between the two countries in the A category. This is very important, they are using special motivation techniques in their preparations. For us, this is just a football game, not a war" said Terim.
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