The Turkish president Abdullah Gul met his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian over a football match between the two nations. Amid protests they decided to end the enmity over the killings of Armenians by the Ottomans during the First World War.

Both agreed to forget the past rivalries that existed between them for decades and attempted to build an amicable relationship now. After returning to Ankara, the capital of Turkey, Gul told the media that his visit to Yerevan was successful from every aspect. A friendly relationship is essential for the overall development of the two neighbouring states.

Gul is also the first Turkish president who has visited Armenia after the First World War. His Armenian counterpart, Sarkisian also stated before the media on Sunday (September 7) that only a positive political will would block all negative impressions from being passed to the next generation.

Though the two state heads are trying their best to mitigate all kinds of political tension between them, the Armenian people showed vehement protest against such an attempt. Several hundred angry protesters queued at the route of Gul’s motorcade, holding aloft the Armenian flag and nationalist emblems.


Meanwhile, the football match was conducted amid an impregnable security with a Turkey beating Armenia 2-0. To avert any kind of violence, Gul had to watch the match from behind a special bullet-proof cover.


Turkey and Armenia had no diplomatic relations after the First World War as 1.5 million Armenians were brutally killed between 1915 and 1917 in orchestrated massacres by the Ottoman Turks, which was referred by the Armenians as ’genocide’. But, Turkey rejected the label of ’genocide’ and argued that at least 3,00,000 to 5,00,000 Armenians and Turks died in civil strife when Armenians declared independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with the invading Russian troops, thereby favouring the bullets.