CAIRO — The Turkish press hailed on Sunday, October 11, an historic accord to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia and end decades of hostility, though some remain skeptical the deal would be successful. "An historic signature," read the headline of the liberal Radikal daily.
The accord was signed late Saturday, October 10, by Armenian Foreign Minister Edouard Nalbandian and Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in a huge ceremony in Zurich attended by many western leaders.
"A door has been opened slightly to resolve a problem that we thought was unsolvable, so deep are its roots plunged into our history," said the editorial of the Yeni Safak.
"We can hope."
Relations between the two countries have long been haunted by whether et hnic Armenians killed during WWI were victims of systematic genocide or not.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were systematically killed by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917 as their empire fell apart.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with the invading Russian troops.
The deal faced a possible last minute hitch over the content of the speeches by both sides in the ceremony.
While Armenia insisted on using the word genocide referring to World War I killings, Turkey pressed for referring to the Armenia backed occupation of Nagorny Karabakh Azerbaijan's district.
The problem was solved thanks to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who managed to persuade both sides to cancel both speeches.
"Peace paid no heed to the crisis," the mass-market Sabah said referring to the three-hour delay.
Problems
With parliaments in both countries still to ratify the accord, some are very skeptical.
"With the Armenian parliament, the main obstacle is that the government won't get it passed without giving assurances that the genocide thesis will not be weakened," wrote Ulku Cakirozer.
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia over Yerevan's campaign to have the killings recognized internationally as genocide -- a label Turkey strongly rejects.
But the issue of Nagorny-Karabakh is also a potential stumbling point.
"Everyone knows that getting the accords through the Turkish parliament is linked to an agreement with Armenia on the future of Nagorny Karabakh," said the Radikal.
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised on Sunday concerns over the disputed Nagorny-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, which has long been one of the stumbling blocks toward reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.
"We want all the borders to be opened at the same time..., but as long as Armenia has not withdrawn from Azerbaijani territory that it is occupying, Turkey cannot have a positive attitude on this subject."
Armenia has rejected any link between Nagorny-Karabakh and its reconciliation efforts with Turkey.
Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed 30,000 lives.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan over the conflict.
Erdogan said his government would submit the new pacts to parliament, but warned of potential problems.
“But our deputies, in order to ratify them, are undoubtedly going to ask about the Armenian-Azerbaijani question," he said.
“If Azerbaijan and Armenia begin to look for a resolution to their problems, public opinion here will have a greater appreciation of the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations. And that will facilitate the ratification of the protocols by parliament."
Azerbaijan has already slammed Turkey for agreeing to normalize ties with Armenia, warning that opening Armenian-Turkish border could cause instability in the volatile South Caucasus.
Source: IslamOnline
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