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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Protests greet Turkish president in Armenia |
| 2008-09-07 |
| YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) - Thousands of Armenians lined the streets of the capital Saturday to protest the first-ever visit by a Turkish leader and to demand that Turkey acknowledge the World War I massacres of Armenian civilians as genocide. Turkish President Abdullah Gul was invited to Yerevan to watch the World Cup qualifying soccer match between his nation and Armenia alongside Armenian President Serge Sarkisian. Turkey won the game 2-0 with two second-half goals. Many hoped the so-called soccer diplomacy would help the two neighbors overcome decades of antagonism rooted in the WWI-era atrocities that began in 1915. "We have put forward our determination to create the climate to overcome problems that exist between Turkey and Armenia," Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as saying after the two leaders met. "We will solve our problems and not leave it to the generations to come," Sarkisian said, according to Anatolia. Gul saluted Sarkisian's "brave" invitation to watch the game and invited Sarkisian to attend the return game in Istanbul on Oct. 14, 2009. Gul is the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia since the ex-Soviet nation declared independence in 1991. The two neighbors have no diplomatic ties, and their border has been closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia's occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Good grief - now we're getting Turkish trolls? And they're using Rantburg to send a message to Armenia? Fred, what have you wrought? ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-09-07 23:02 |
| #2 bunch of idiots. you should thank president for honoring your country. |
| Posted by: Hupusons on the power 2008-09-07 22:26 |
| #1 Gotta give Gul credit for cajones... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2008-09-07 18:03 |