September 8th, 2008 by Sarah

After Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian invited Turkish President Abdullah Gul to make a historic visit to Yerevan, both leaders watched an international soccer match between their national teams and met beforehand in a closed-door session. This marked the first visit to Armenia by a Turkish head of state since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Brian Ulrich at American Footprints questions whether the visit will “truly lead to an end to the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries.” Ulrich suggests that “the crisis in South Ossetia is probably a factor influencing decision-making” as “Armenia is, right now, Russia’s closest ally in the Caucasus” and opines that Armenian officials may fear that Russia’s newfound position closer to the Armenian border “may herald a time when Russia might seek to intervene directly in its affairs. If that happens, Turkey will be an important country to have relations with in the interest of playing one large power against another.”

Posted in Diplomacy, Turkey |