agreement with armenia may pave the way for turkeys entry to the eu
News Posted On: 13 October 2009
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian had an historic meeting on Saturday in Zurich that could mark a step on the road to EU membership for the nation that has become a favourite holiday destination for the Brits.
The ministers signed an agreement normalizing relations between their two countries, opening their shared border, and putting to bed a century-long simmering enmity between the two nations.
During the First World War Turkish Ottoman troops were involved in a series of mass murders of Armenians, and for some time there has been pressure on Turkey to admit to the atrocity and therefore hopefully to bring closure for the Armenian nation.
Under the new deal, Turkey and Armenia have agreed to set up a commission of international experts to examine those long ago events.
Armenia hopes the world will formally recognize as genocide the deportation and subsequent death of as many as 1.5 million Christians at the hands of the Turkish military between 1915 and 1917.
For most however history is not a primary concern. Considerations of the economic variety are.
While a section of the diaspora opposes the agreement, those living in Armenia are set to support it because it offers the possibility of greater prosperity.
Harry Sterling, the former Canadian ambassador to Turkey said: “There’s a lot at stake here for Armenia. The expectation is that if the borders are open, things will improve economically.”
Normalization of relations will also boost Turkey’s chances of winning membership in the European Union despite opposition from France and Austria towards granting a Muslim country full EU membership.
The European Union welcomed the signing. “The signature of the protocols confirms the desire of both Turkey and Armenia to turn a page and build a new future,” said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
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