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WSJ: Turkey, Armenia Agree To Form Ties

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  • WSJ: Turkey, Armenia Agree To Form Ties

    TURKEY, ARMENIA AGREE TO FORM TIES

    Wall Street Journal
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12517680350387462 7.html
    Aug 31 2009
    NY

    Armenia and Turkey agreed on final talks to establish diplomatic
    ties, overcoming a seemingly intractable rift marked by massacres of
    Armenians under Ottoman rule.

    The neighboring countries will be setting up and developing relations
    for the first time, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin
    said. It is unclear if the talks will touch on the dispute over the
    World War I-era killings. That issue is a major stumbling block to
    Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union and has strained ties
    with the United States.

    Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire,
    as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in what
    is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th Century. Turkey
    rejects claims that the World War I killings, a defining element
    of Armenian national identity, amounted to genocide, and says many
    people were killed on both sides of the conflict. It says Turks also
    suffered losses in the hands of Armenian gangs.

    Both sides said they will hold domestic consultations before
    signing two protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations
    and development of bilateral relations. According to copies of the
    protocols seen by Reuters, the border -- closed by Turkey in 1993 --
    will reopen within two months of enforcing the protocol on development
    of relations.

    The plan to normalize ties was announced in April, but Monday's
    statement marked the first real progress.

    Turkey and Armenia also disagree about Armenian forces' control
    of the Arzerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey is a close
    ally of Azerbaijan and back Baku's claims to the region, which has
    a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is located within
    Azerbaijan's borders.

    Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia's
    independence in 1991, but the two countries never established
    diplomatic relations and their joint border has been closed since
    1993. Ties began to improve after a so-called soccer diplomacy campaign
    last year, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended a World Cup
    qualifier in Armenia. Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian has said
    he wants progress on reopening their shared border before he will
    attend a World Cup qualifying match in Turkey on Oct. 14.
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