Success of football diplomacy has a catch

The visit by Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, to Armenia opens the door for reconciliation between the two neighbours.

ISTANBUL // The historic visit by Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, to Armenia has opened the door for a process of reconciliation between the two neighbours, a move that could dramatically improve Turkey's image in the European Union, but Mr Gul has failed to convince critics at home who argue that Ankara has made too many concessions to Yerevan. "A psychological wall has been demolished," Mr Gul said of his short trip to Yerevan, the first by a Turkish president. "I hope that this visit will be a new start for a solution of the problems between the two countries." Mr Gul met his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, for talks, and the two presidents watched a World Cup qualifying match between the football teams of their countries, which the Turkey won 2-0.

"We will solve these problems and not leave them to the next generation," Mr Sarksyan said. There was a "political will to decide the questions between our countries". Given that Turkish-Armenian relations are overshadowed by the death of hundreds of thousands Anatolian-Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, which Armenia says constituted a genocide, Mr Gul's trip was hailed as a step of historic proportions in Turkey and abroad. "Our children will talk about this gesture," wrote commentator Ferai Tinc in Hurriyet, a daily newspaper. "Football diplomacy has been successful," the Milliyet newspaper said. In a poll made public shortly before Mr Gul went to Yerevan on Saturday, two out of three Turks said they supported the initiative.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, which is home to a strong Armenian minority and holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, also praised Mr Gul. "While the region is in the midst of a serious crisis, [the visit] is a courageous and historic gesture for Turkish-Armenian relations," Mr Sarkozy said in a statement. Although reconciliation with Armenia is not part of the EU conditions for Turkey's membership, French politicians in particular have called on Ankara several times to mend its ties with Armenia.

The Turkish president was greeted by sporadic demonstrations in Yerevan during his six-hour visit, with some protesters carrying signs that read "Recognise the genocide". Several thousand policemen were on duty, and Mr Gul and Mr Sarkisian watched the match from behind a pane of bulletproof glass. Yerevan says the Ottoman government decided to wipe out the Armenian minority in 1915; Turkey does not deny that many innocent people died, but insists that the deaths were the result of unrest and harsh wartime conditions. The row over the Armenian massacres is not the only issue that has kept Turkey and Armenia apart. Some politicians in Ankara accuse Armenia of claiming Turkish territory, saying Yerevan has not officially recognised the border between the two countries. Turkey closed the border in 1993 in support for Azerbaijan during the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian region in Azerbaijan. The two countries have no diplomatic relations. The "football diplomacy" has created a new opening for direct talks. "I stressed in my contacts [in Yerevan] that there are no problems that cannot be solved by dialogue," Mr Gul said after he returned to Ankara late Saturday. He invited Mr Sarksyan for the return match between the two football teams in Turkey, which will take place in October next year. The two presidents will also meet on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York this month, Turkish media reported. Mr Gul and Mr Sarksyan agreed that the two countries' foreign ministers should put into place a mechanism of consultation, according to the reports. High-level contacts like that would have been thought impossible only a short time ago. According to Mr Gul, Armenia signalled its support for the Turkish idea for a "Caucasus Platform", a regional grouping planned as a forum for conflict prevention and resolution. The Turkish government tabled the initiative after the fighting between Georgia and Russia in South Ossetia in early August. In Yerevan, the two presidents avoided any discussion about the thorny issue of the massacres. "They neither mentioned nor referred to the so-called genocide," Mr Gul said. Hurriyet reported that the two countries agreed to speed up the establishment of a joint committee of historians that would deal with the events of 1915. A joint committee dealing with economic questions was also planned, the newspaper reported. Almost a decade ago, Turkey began a similar process of rapprochement with Greece, another traditional neighbourhood foe. Since then, co-operation has increased in a number of fields, although difficult questions like the exact delineation of their maritime border in the Aegean remain unresolved. But while many commentators had only good things to say about Mr Gul's trip, some remained unconvinced. In scathing remarks aimed at the president, the opposition leader, Deniz Baykal, suggested that Mr Gul may as well lay a wreath at a memorial commemorating the Armenian genocide in Yerevan. He also reminded Mr Gul that he himself had been very critical of Armenia as a parliamentary deputy in 1993. "What has changed since then?" Mr Baykal asked, referring to Armenia's positions concerning the border, the genocide issue or Nagorno-Karabakh. "Nothing has changed." The presidential trip "will earn Turkey important points on its road to the EU", wrote Yildiz Devici Bozkus, an analyst at the Centre for Eurasian Strategic Studies, a think tank in Ankara. But Turkey would be giving Armenia the chance to be at the table of the Caucasus Platform without Yerevan having to give up any of its own positions in the various disputes with Turkey, she added. [e-mail]