The Times: A promise of peace in the shadow of Ararat
The Times has published Michael Binyon's "A promise of peace in the shadow of Ararat" article dedicated to the Armenian-Turkish relations.
The article says in part, "Years ago Andrei Gromyko, the veteran Soviet Foreign Minister, was once buttonholed by his irate Turkish counterpart. "Why do you show Mount Ararat, which lies in Turkey, on the flag of Soviet Armenia? Do you lay claim to our territory?" "No," replied Gromyko. "Why do you have a crescent on your flag? Do you lay claim to the Moon?" Armenia is now free of Soviet control. But the Turkish-Armenian border, sealed during the Cold War years when it marked the tense boundary between NATO and the Soviet Union, remains closed. And though Armenians gaze across at Ararat's elusive peak, they still cannot cross over into the lost provinces of their historic homeland that lie in northeast Turkey. Something, however, may at last be moving. Ali Babacan, Turkey's Foreign Minister, will visit Yerevan today for a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, an 11-nation regional grouping set up in 1992. But the real issue for him and for his Armenian hosts is the border. Can both countries set aside their historic animosities and suspicions and dismantle the last Cold War barbed-wire barricades? Barack Obama hopes so. Indeed, in Istanbul last week he challenged his Turkish hosts to "move forward" and establish, for the first time, diplomatic ties with their Armenian neighbors. Much more than just the border is at stake. A reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia would help to ease more than 90 years of bitterness dating back to the Ottoman massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917, which still cast a long shadow over the politics of the Caucasus and the West's attitudes to Turkey. An open border would not only bring huge economic benefits to both sides: it could also help to thaw one of the last "frozen conflicts" in Europe's backyard, the military stand-off between Armenia and Azerbaijan over control of the ethnically Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
It could also help Russia to regain its balance within the turbulent Caucasus and Turkey to extend its reach to its cultural Central Asian hinterland. And it could remove some of the taboos from today's Turkish politics, where any mention of the Ottoman killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians produces a venomous nationalist reaction.
The issues are all interlinked, and, bedeviled by emotion, are exceptionally difficult to resolve. At the heart of the stalemate lie the fears and political isolation of Armenia, a tiny country of less than three million people, that has historically been at the mercy of its powerful neighbors. Armenia, the first nation to adopt Christianity, lies on the front line of Islam, and has always looked to Russia for protection from Turkey and its Muslim Azeri neighbors. It is a role that Moscow has embraced eagerly, and one that has underpinned Russia's military confrontation with Turkey, which for centuries has shaped the history of both countries."
The article says in part, "Years ago Andrei Gromyko, the veteran Soviet Foreign Minister, was once buttonholed by his irate Turkish counterpart. "Why do you show Mount Ararat, which lies in Turkey, on the flag of Soviet Armenia? Do you lay claim to our territory?" "No," replied Gromyko. "Why do you have a crescent on your flag? Do you lay claim to the Moon?" Armenia is now free of Soviet control. But the Turkish-Armenian border, sealed during the Cold War years when it marked the tense boundary between NATO and the Soviet Union, remains closed. And though Armenians gaze across at Ararat's elusive peak, they still cannot cross over into the lost provinces of their historic homeland that lie in northeast Turkey. Something, however, may at last be moving. Ali Babacan, Turkey's Foreign Minister, will visit Yerevan today for a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, an 11-nation regional grouping set up in 1992. But the real issue for him and for his Armenian hosts is the border. Can both countries set aside their historic animosities and suspicions and dismantle the last Cold War barbed-wire barricades? Barack Obama hopes so. Indeed, in Istanbul last week he challenged his Turkish hosts to "move forward" and establish, for the first time, diplomatic ties with their Armenian neighbors. Much more than just the border is at stake. A reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia would help to ease more than 90 years of bitterness dating back to the Ottoman massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917, which still cast a long shadow over the politics of the Caucasus and the West's attitudes to Turkey. An open border would not only bring huge economic benefits to both sides: it could also help to thaw one of the last "frozen conflicts" in Europe's backyard, the military stand-off between Armenia and Azerbaijan over control of the ethnically Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
It could also help Russia to regain its balance within the turbulent Caucasus and Turkey to extend its reach to its cultural Central Asian hinterland. And it could remove some of the taboos from today's Turkish politics, where any mention of the Ottoman killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians produces a venomous nationalist reaction.
The issues are all interlinked, and, bedeviled by emotion, are exceptionally difficult to resolve. At the heart of the stalemate lie the fears and political isolation of Armenia, a tiny country of less than three million people, that has historically been at the mercy of its powerful neighbors. Armenia, the first nation to adopt Christianity, lies on the front line of Islam, and has always looked to Russia for protection from Turkey and its Muslim Azeri neighbors. It is a role that Moscow has embraced eagerly, and one that has underpinned Russia's military confrontation with Turkey, which for centuries has shaped the history of both countries."
