Reuters, Saturday September 6 2008 (Recasts with arrival; changes dateline, previous ANKARA)
By Paul de Bendern
YEREVAN, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Turkish President Abdullah Gul flew into neighbouring Armenia on Saturday to attend a soccer match he said could help end almost a century of mutual hostility and aid security in the broader Caucasus region.
Attack helicopters escorted Gul’s jet on its arrival, and police and demonstrators lined the traffic-free streets as his motorcade sped through downtown Yerevan.
Gul is the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia. Ankara and Yerevan have no diplomatic ties but a relationship haunted by the question of whether ethnic Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks during World War One were victims of systematic genocide.
Gul was invited to attend Saturday’s match at the Hrazdan stadium by his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarksyan, who called for closer ties in a region rocked last month by Russia’s war with Georgia. The brief conflict raised fears for the security of energy supplies from the Caspian Sea to western Europe.
Football Feed Article | Football | guardian.co.uk.
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