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World Bulletin, Turkey
Sept 5 2014
Turkey remembers 2008's 'football diplomacy'
History was made six years ago when Turkey's football team travelled
to Yerevan to play Armenia in a match charged with emotional and
political significance.
Six years ago tomorrow, the Hrazdan Stadium in the Armenian capital of
Yerevan erupted into a wall of noise as two unlikely opponents lined
out in the first World Cup meeting of Armenia and Turkey -- a match
which became the first round of the so-called 'football diplomacy'
between the two troubled neighbors.
Amid the flags, anthems, jeers and whistles, Turkey's Abdullah Gul,
who recently stepped down as president, made a small piece of history.
By accepting an invitation from his Armenian counterpart, Serzh
Sarkisian, he became the first Turkish head-of-state to visit Ankara's
smaller neighbor.
Gul's visit was an uncharacteristic display of good neighborliness --
the two countries still do not have diplomatic ties, a situation with
roots in a longstanding and bitter dispute over events from the First
World War.
Turkey strongly rejects allegations by Armenia and several other
countries as well as some historians that the killing of an estimated
1.5 million Armenians during 1915 in the Ottoman Empire amounts to
"genocide," saying the death toll is overblown and that many of the
fatalities were due to starvation and disease.
This provided the backdrop to the charged atmosphere in Yerevan for
the World Cup qualifier match. Amid fears of fighting between fans
Turkey's coach Fatih Terim called for calm, saying: "This is only a
football game not a war. We cannot carry the weight of history on our
shoulders."
"The match was definitely beyond a sport activity," says Turkish
academic Ahmet Han from Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "It was a
step of public diplomacy towards improving bilateral relations with
Armenia."
This view is shared by the Turkish team's then-trainer, Mufit Erkasap,
who tells the Anadolu Agency that the match -- despite a 2-0 win for
the visiting Turks -- contributed to improved relations between
Armenia and Turkey.
Erkasap says that the presence of the Turkish president at the match
gave his footballers the confidence to play better and feel better.
Team doctor Cengiz Dinc agrees: "That the president attended the match
helped us get rid of stress."
Dinc says his players were stressed due to "disturbing stares at the
Turkish team" from the time their plane landed at Yerevan's airport
until they arrived at their hotel.
"I felt the same stares in the street when we were walking around the
city," he claimed, recalling a heightened sense of tension around the
capital.
"Despite all the negative feelings, however, I still believe that the
match was a significant step towards better relations between the two
nations because all kinds of sport also serve as a bridge that makes
people forget about their disappointment and hostility."
The historical debate influenced many Armenian supporters during the 2008 match.
"Some fans were carrying banners about the 1915 killings and shouting
angrily to Turkish footballers," Erkasap says, adding that the number
of Turkish fans at the match was less than 1,000, lost amid a sea of
Armenian supporters.
He said Armenian fans booed Turkey's anthem at the start of the game
and that they also protested against Turkey by whistling.
Abdullah Gul's visit also created nationwide controversy in Turkey.
Not everybody was pleased about the initiative, with many arguing that
the president should not go before problems between Armenia and Turkey
were resolved.
Gul's visit also became a hot topic on Turkey's emerging social media
scene at that time.
Erkasap claims that those discussions on Turkish media stressed the
footballers: "We helped them relax with psychological support," he
says.
On the other hand, a statement on President Gul's website which was
released prior to the match was full of hope. In it he said: "This
opportunity should be used in the best way. We believe that our visit
will contribute a lot to creating a new atmosphere of friendship in
the region... And the match will help clear the way for reconciliation
between the two sides who share a common history..."
Only one year later the Armenian president paid a visit to Turkey's
northwestern Bursa province to join Gul at the second-leg of the World
Cup qualifier, which Turkey again won 2-0.
The meeting was regarded the latest round in the "football diplomacy."
"Such organizations are vital in that they are the gestures of
goodwill, and they also help create awareness on these matters," says
Han, who argues that the momentum from these ground-breaking events
was not maintained.
"However," he continued, "we could not see any follow-up acts of
goodwill... In order for the countries to better establish faith in
each other, public diplomacy should be carried on with small but
continuous steps in a 'baby-step approach,' which will offer a safe
feeling of being in control and fully confident in each step."
The legacy of these two games can been seen in the improved relations
between the two countries. Armenia sent its foreign minister, Eduard
Nalbandyan, to Ankara on August 28 to attend the presidential
inauguration of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
However, the future depends on diplomacy dealing with difficult issues
like the relations between Azerbaijan (a Turkic country situated at
the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia) and Armenia -- a
conflict which has strained Ankara and Yerevan's reconciliation
process.
"Armenia must make peace with Azerbaijan before it can fix its
relations with Turkey," President Erdogan said Wednesday in a joint
press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.
Nevertheless, for team doctor Dinc that night in Yerevan is something
which he will never forget: "Both the match and the visit to the
country was one the most interesting ones in my career, with mixed
feelings of excitement, stress about our historical debate and hope
for victory."
AA
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/143812/turkey-remembers-2008s-football-diplomacy
Sept 5 2014
Turkey remembers 2008's 'football diplomacy'
History was made six years ago when Turkey's football team travelled
to Yerevan to play Armenia in a match charged with emotional and
political significance.
Six years ago tomorrow, the Hrazdan Stadium in the Armenian capital of
Yerevan erupted into a wall of noise as two unlikely opponents lined
out in the first World Cup meeting of Armenia and Turkey -- a match
which became the first round of the so-called 'football diplomacy'
between the two troubled neighbors.
Amid the flags, anthems, jeers and whistles, Turkey's Abdullah Gul,
who recently stepped down as president, made a small piece of history.
By accepting an invitation from his Armenian counterpart, Serzh
Sarkisian, he became the first Turkish head-of-state to visit Ankara's
smaller neighbor.
Gul's visit was an uncharacteristic display of good neighborliness --
the two countries still do not have diplomatic ties, a situation with
roots in a longstanding and bitter dispute over events from the First
World War.
Turkey strongly rejects allegations by Armenia and several other
countries as well as some historians that the killing of an estimated
1.5 million Armenians during 1915 in the Ottoman Empire amounts to
"genocide," saying the death toll is overblown and that many of the
fatalities were due to starvation and disease.
This provided the backdrop to the charged atmosphere in Yerevan for
the World Cup qualifier match. Amid fears of fighting between fans
Turkey's coach Fatih Terim called for calm, saying: "This is only a
football game not a war. We cannot carry the weight of history on our
shoulders."
"The match was definitely beyond a sport activity," says Turkish
academic Ahmet Han from Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "It was a
step of public diplomacy towards improving bilateral relations with
Armenia."
This view is shared by the Turkish team's then-trainer, Mufit Erkasap,
who tells the Anadolu Agency that the match -- despite a 2-0 win for
the visiting Turks -- contributed to improved relations between
Armenia and Turkey.
Erkasap says that the presence of the Turkish president at the match
gave his footballers the confidence to play better and feel better.
Team doctor Cengiz Dinc agrees: "That the president attended the match
helped us get rid of stress."
Dinc says his players were stressed due to "disturbing stares at the
Turkish team" from the time their plane landed at Yerevan's airport
until they arrived at their hotel.
"I felt the same stares in the street when we were walking around the
city," he claimed, recalling a heightened sense of tension around the
capital.
"Despite all the negative feelings, however, I still believe that the
match was a significant step towards better relations between the two
nations because all kinds of sport also serve as a bridge that makes
people forget about their disappointment and hostility."
The historical debate influenced many Armenian supporters during the 2008 match.
"Some fans were carrying banners about the 1915 killings and shouting
angrily to Turkish footballers," Erkasap says, adding that the number
of Turkish fans at the match was less than 1,000, lost amid a sea of
Armenian supporters.
He said Armenian fans booed Turkey's anthem at the start of the game
and that they also protested against Turkey by whistling.
Abdullah Gul's visit also created nationwide controversy in Turkey.
Not everybody was pleased about the initiative, with many arguing that
the president should not go before problems between Armenia and Turkey
were resolved.
Gul's visit also became a hot topic on Turkey's emerging social media
scene at that time.
Erkasap claims that those discussions on Turkish media stressed the
footballers: "We helped them relax with psychological support," he
says.
On the other hand, a statement on President Gul's website which was
released prior to the match was full of hope. In it he said: "This
opportunity should be used in the best way. We believe that our visit
will contribute a lot to creating a new atmosphere of friendship in
the region... And the match will help clear the way for reconciliation
between the two sides who share a common history..."
Only one year later the Armenian president paid a visit to Turkey's
northwestern Bursa province to join Gul at the second-leg of the World
Cup qualifier, which Turkey again won 2-0.
The meeting was regarded the latest round in the "football diplomacy."
"Such organizations are vital in that they are the gestures of
goodwill, and they also help create awareness on these matters," says
Han, who argues that the momentum from these ground-breaking events
was not maintained.
"However," he continued, "we could not see any follow-up acts of
goodwill... In order for the countries to better establish faith in
each other, public diplomacy should be carried on with small but
continuous steps in a 'baby-step approach,' which will offer a safe
feeling of being in control and fully confident in each step."
The legacy of these two games can been seen in the improved relations
between the two countries. Armenia sent its foreign minister, Eduard
Nalbandyan, to Ankara on August 28 to attend the presidential
inauguration of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
However, the future depends on diplomacy dealing with difficult issues
like the relations between Azerbaijan (a Turkic country situated at
the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia) and Armenia -- a
conflict which has strained Ankara and Yerevan's reconciliation
process.
"Armenia must make peace with Azerbaijan before it can fix its
relations with Turkey," President Erdogan said Wednesday in a joint
press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.
Nevertheless, for team doctor Dinc that night in Yerevan is something
which he will never forget: "Both the match and the visit to the
country was one the most interesting ones in my career, with mixed
feelings of excitement, stress about our historical debate and hope
for victory."
AA
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/143812/turkey-remembers-2008s-football-diplomacy