Armenia and Turkey will play against each other in Yerevan, Armenia this Saturday. The first round match of the 2010 World Cup qualifying leg marks the first time that Turkey and Armenia will meet on the soccer field.
In another first time ever, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul will be visiting Armenia to watch the game with his counterpart, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian. Hopefully, security will be tight. We all know what a nationalistic game soccer can be . . . Although there have been opposition in Turkey about this historic visit, and no doubt the same on the Armenian side, this visit couldn't have come at a better time.
With the ongoing Russian restructuring and its hopes of revitalizing the Soviet empire, closer relations between affected neighboring countries are very critical in any normal setting. Then there's the issue of reconciling differences regarding the 'Genocide' matter. And the hope for a closer dialogue without the presence of any third parties whose justification for their own existence is the continuation of the very same discord they supposedly are for ending.
A good start . . .
