Armenian President to make symbolic visit to Turkey
ANKARA. October 14. KAZINFORM. Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan is expected to arrive in Turkey on a visit, which the Turkish Foreign Ministry has described as 'symbolic'; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
As the official reason for his trip here, officials on both sides name the presence at a 'revenge game' between the Armenian and Turkish national football teams that will play in the town of Bursa as part of the qualifying round for World Cup 2010.
The Foreign Ministry said in a communique Sargsyan will visit this country at the invitation by President Abdullah Gul in the follow-up to the October 10 signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations and development of bilateral relations.
"Along with an opportunity to ensure top-level contacts between the two countries, this visit also has a symbolic meaning as it marks the first-ever trip by an Armenian President to Turkey," the ministry said.
Reports indicate this visit will furnish Sargsyan and Gul with an opportunity to discuss some problems in bilateral relations.
Most observers stress the significance of Sargsyan's visit as an important step towards normalizing relations between the Armenian and Turkish peoples that have been strained since the years of World War I.
The rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey is impeded by a number of really hard problems, and given the stated willingness to build good-neighborly relations the two Presidents will have tap approaches to clearing the backlog of obstructions; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.