Posted on 09/06/2008 6:04:41 PM PDT by george76
The presidents of Armenia and Turkey pledged Saturday to overcome decades of enmity between their two nations during the first visit to Yerevan by a Turkish head of state.
Abdullah Gul held talks with Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian after which the two agreed there was now the "political will" to improve relations frozen for decades by lingering bitterness over 1915-1917 massacres.
Gul's visit was hailed by French and EU President Nicolas Sarkozy as "courageous and historic" at a time when the Caucasus region is in turmoil following the conflict in Armenia's northern neighbour Georgia.
The two countries -- which have no diplomatic relations -- have waged an international diplomatic battle over Yerevan's efforts to have the 1915-1917 massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians recognised as genocide.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were killed between 1915 and 1917 in orchestrated massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart -- a claim supported by several other countries.
Sevak Sahakian, a hotel worker in Yerevan said: "Everyone knows about it and people are happy because they hope better ties with Turkey will improve daily life. But people aren't enthusiastic because they don't trust the Turks."
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia since the former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Perhaps they realize that they have a common enemy to the north.
Armenia needs to accept that old Armenia is gone and Turkey needs ethnic Armenians to unite politically with secular muslim Turks so that Turkey can embrace Europe instead of relapsing into an islamic state. Of course, I guess Turkey’s current government is made up of more conservative islamic elements. Just a theory, anyway.
I find the whole thing confusing, so I’ll just say I hope it sorts itself out to the benefit of the United States.
The hatred that average Armenians have for Turks is incredible. I don’t see any reconciliation for a long, long time, if ever.
Yikes. I would hope that the Russians wouldn’t be too eager to move back into Bulgaria. Aren’t we building a base there?
Thanks geo.
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