By Hasmik Mkrtchyan and Paul de Bendern
YEREVAN/ANKARA, Sept 5 (Reuters) – A soccer match in Yerevan’s Hrazdan stadium on Saturday could herald a fresh start in relations between Armenians and Turks that have been marred by hostility for nearly 100 years.
President Abdullah Gul will become the first Turkish leader ever to set foot in neighbouring Armenia when, at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, he flies to Yerevan to watch his national side play Armenia in a World Cup qualifying match.
The visit has huge symbolic importance for two countries which have no diplomatic ties and whose relationship is haunted by the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War One.
If they can move beyond the symbolism to re-establish normal relations, that could have huge significance for Turkey’s role as a regional power, for energy flows from the Caspian Sea and for Western influence in a South Caucasus region where Russia flexed its muscles last month by sending troops into Georgia.
“Football diplomacy will become a new term in the international community’s lexicon,” if after Saturday’s match there is a real improvement in relations, former Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian told Reuters.
Football Feed Article | Football | guardian.co.uk.
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