Turkey, Armenia To Sign Landmark Agreement To Normalize Ties

Turkey and Armenia are poised to sign a landmark accord to normalize diplomatic ties and end a century of acrimony between the two nations.

The foreign ministers of both countries are due to sign the accord later in the afternoon at the University of Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. The deal, which calls for the border to be reopened within two months, follows six weeks of negotiations mediated by Switzerland.

Hrair Tamrazian, the director of RFE/RL's Armenian Service, reports from Zurich that the signing has "generated great media interest, you can see Turkish television stations here -- their cars are stationed near the university -- as well as many other media."

The signing ceremony will be attended by a number of international dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Nagorno-Karabakh

Once signed by Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu and Armenia's Eduard Nalbandian, the accord must be approved by both countries' parliaments.

But a long-standing dispute between Turkey's ally Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh clouds reconciliation efforts.

Turkey cut diplomatic ties and shut its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its ally Azerbaijan, which was then battling ethnic Armenian separatists for control over the region. Armenian forces drove out Azerbaijani troops in a war that killed some 30,000 people.

Talks between the leaders of the Azerbaijan and Armenia over the region ended without result on October 9.

Critics say the Turkish-Armenian agreement fails to take a clear stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

"We are surprised that in the protocols initiated in Geneva, there are no mentions of Nagorno-Karabakh, there is no mention of withdrawal of Armenians from occupied territories," Onur Oymen, the deputy head of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, told Reuters.

"That's why there is no guarantee that Armenians will withdraw from occupied lands in case Turkey normalize relations and open the border"

Genocide Issue

Ties between Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia are also strained by what Armenian -- backed by many Western historians -- say was the massacre of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

About 10,000 protesters rallied in Armenia's capital on October 9 to oppose the planned signing.

Turkey denies the killing amounted to genocide and says Armenians were among many thousands killed in the chaos of the Ottoman Empire's final days.

The accord calls for Turkey and Armenia to set up an international commission of historians to investigate the killings but only hints at the divisive issue.

Better ties between Turkey and Armenia could help reduce tensions in the volatile Caucasus region and consolidate the region's role as a transit zone for energy supplies to Europe.

The thaw would also benefit Ankara's ambitions to join the European Union and help poor, landlocked Armenia to open its economy to trade and investment.

Copyright (c) 2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.