Turkey and Armenia set to establish diplomatic ties

Turkey and Armenia, bitter enemies for decades, have moved closer to establishing diplomatic ties after nearly a century of mutual antagonism.

The two countries are to hold six weeks of talks aimed at developing ties after which MPs on both sides will vote on agreed protocols, their foreign ministries announced in a joint statement.

The statement said that the two countries would start consultations to sign two protocols – one to establish diplomatic ties, the other to develop bilateral relations.

However they won't discuss the source of their enmity – the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, which Turkey refuses to admit was the first genocide of the 20th century.

Expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough have been growing before a planned visit by Armenian President Serge Sarkisian to Turkey in October, to attend a World Cup qualifying football match between the two countries in the second stage of the so-called soccer diplomacy campaign.

Last year the Turkish President, paid an unprecedented visit to Armenia and sat alongside Mr Sarkisian in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to watch the 2008 qualifying match.

The talks still face many pitfalls, primarily Armenia's campaign for international recognition of the Turkish genocide of Armenians. Although Mr Sarkisian has indicated that the dispute would not be a deal-breaker, nationalist sentiment in Turkey about the massacre still runs high.

Also, despite an agreement that the process should proceed without preconditions, Turkey's Prime Minister has linked it to a resolution of the dispute over the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region occupied by Armenian troops.

Turkey closed the border between the two countries in 1993 as a gesture of support for Azerbaijan in the dispute and Azerbaijan is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land.

At the end of the talks, the borders between Turkey and Armenia would be reopened, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Reuters news agency, adding that the talks were aimed at re-establishing stability across the south Caucasus.

«We want to normalise our relations with Armenia, but we also want full normalisation of relations in the South Caucasus, including Nagorno-Karabakh», said Mr Davutoglu.

«This would provide a stable, sustainable peace and stability in our region. The Caucasus has already suffered a lot from ethnic tension and frozen conflicts», he said.

The restoration of diplomatic ties with Armenia would also improve Turkey's chances of gaining European Union membership – although Ankara still faces many obstacles – and bring stability to a volatile region.

«We know very well from our experiences in the Caucasus and Balkans that frozen conflicts are like bombs in our hands and if we cannot control them, they could blow up in our hands», Mr Davutoglu said.

The announcement of the talks has been met with a guarded welcome by the international community.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who strongly opposes Turkey's entry into the EU, said in a statement: «Normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey would constitute an event of historic importance and would contribute to regional stability».

The US State Department spokesman said that the United States «warmly welcomes» the announcement.

«It has long been and remains the position of the United States that normalisation should take place without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe», he said.

«We remain ready to work closely with both governments in support of normalisation».

01/09/2009, The Times