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ANKARA: Turkish President Faces A Dilemma In Accepting Armenia's Inv

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  • ANKARA: Turkish President Faces A Dilemma In Accepting Armenia's Inv

    TURKISH PRESIDENT FACES A DILEMMA IN ACCEPTING ARMENIA'S INVITATION

    Hurriyet
    Aug 20 2008
    Turkey

    Turkey's President Abdullah Gul faces a tough decision on whether to
    accept Armenia's invitation to watch a football game between the two
    countries' national teams in Yerevan. Gul is yet to make a decision,
    however his closest aides and the foreign ministry has divided over
    the issue.

    Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has invited Gul to watch a football
    match between the two counties' national teams on Sep. 6 to mark
    "a new symbolic start in the two countries' relations".

    Some of Gul's closest aides and advisors think he should accept the
    invitation and pay a visit to Yerevan, while some others think he
    should not. The other option before Gul is sending a lower level
    official instead of the president, while some others insist no one
    should go to the neighboring country.

    Supporters of the acceptance of the invitation say such a visit by a
    Turkish president would send the world a message that Turkey favors
    compromise and dialogue.

    The other camp, however, is concerned the Armenian diaspora could
    use this visit to promote its claims of so-called "Armenian genocide"
    instead of using this as a window of opportunity. Also it is feared
    that a protest of Gul by Armenian people at the match could worsen
    the relations.

    Still Gul is expected to make his decision on the issue at the 11th
    hour due to the busy diplomacy calendar that Turkey faces. The dilemma
    that the Turkish president faces is a strong signal that the lack
    of confidence between the two sides emerges as one of the biggest
    challenges in the process to normalize relations.

    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.

    A warming period had started between two neighboring countries after
    the presidents exchanged letters after Sargsyan's election victory.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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