In addition to that historical dispute, another Caucasus state, Azerbaijan, remains a stumbling block to furthering ties between Turkey and Armenia. Therefore, Turkey has been pursuing double-track diplomacy to help the resolution of disputes over Nagorno-Karabakh between the two Caucasus neighbors and to remove obstacles in its own path.
Turkey's rapprochement with Armenia in early September, when Turkish President Abdullah Gül paid a visit to Yerevan in a show of soccer diplomacy, has made it possible for Ankara to be perceived as a reliable mediator in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, which the Minsk Group within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has long been attempting to solve.
As part of this rapprochement, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said after a meeting with his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, in İstanbul on Nov. 25 that the second round of three-way talks between him and the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan may take place in Helsinki during December on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting, scheduled for Dec. 4-5 in the Finnish capital.
"The signals that we have been receiving have been positive for the tri-party talks, and [they indicate] that Turkish-Armenian rapprochement will have a positive reflection on relations between Armenian and Azerbaijan," he added.
Tactically, improvement in relations between Baku and Yerevan will make it easy for Turkey -- whose foreign policy options have been restricted by Azerbaijan for many years -- to open, for example, borders between Ankara and Yerevan as a first step.
Strategically, however, putting Turkey's relations on track in the long term with Armenia requires courageous steps and a new way of creative thinking if Ankara wants to no longer be a nation that is blamed for what its Ottoman ancestors did during World War I.
Ankara strongly denies genocide allegations and describes the 1915 events as a deportation of Armenians. But it keeps quiet when US presidents describe the events as a massacre of Armenians rather than as genocide.
Professor Taner Akçam, a scholar at US-based Clark University, who has been one of the few Turkish academics who describe the 1915 events as a massacre or a genocide, has joined in the current debate over Turkish-Armenian rapprochement with two articles published in the Taraf daily on Nov. 16 and 17.
In his first article, titled "Looking at Turkish-Armenian relations in the shadow of 1915 events," Akçam argues that Turkish-Armenian rapprochement has been possible due to the case against the Ergenekon terror organization, under which 86 defendants including former generals are being tried.
He indicated that if an investigation was not opened culminating in the ongoing trial of those accused of, among other things, inciting armed uprising to overthrow the current government, opening a new page in the relations between Ankara and Yerevan would not have been possible.
"If arrests had not taken place as part of the Ergenekon investigation, a very serious campaign against Gül's visit to Yerevan would have had been launched," he asserts.
In his second article, published in Taraf on Nov. 17 and titled "What would it mean if genocide were recognized?" Akçam suggested that the adoption of a new paradigm in Turkish-Armenian relations is necessary.
"In general terms, the Turkish-Armenian conflict has been seen as a problem that occurred among various ethnic or national groups during the process of the dissolution of the [Ottoman] empire. It is known that over time those problems turned into a conflict on territorial claims and over borders among the ethnic groups and that massacres took place during that process. The current Turkish-Armenian relations are viewed within this perspective, and in this sense it is seen as a problem inherited from the past," Akçam stated.
He, however, suggested that Turkish and Armenian societies should not approach this matter simply as a problem inherited from the past, but should also see it as part of the democratization process of today.
"The problem [genocide allegations and what happened during World War I] is not one inherited from the past, but a problem of how a new relationship can be built over it for tomorrow."
According to Akçam, this means that the two neighbors, Turkey and Armenia, both of whom are in a transition period of democracy, should approach the problem not only as part of their own democratization but also as the democratization of relations in the region.
The main target should be to return human dignity to the victims of the past, seeing them as human beings again and respecting their memory, while creating conditions for living together in peace and stability.
Thirdly, Akçam suggests setting up a network of relationships that will result in the creation of a cultural basis that will stop the repetition of the grievances of the past.
By shedding light on this historical event, Akçam has been working to overcome prejudice and biases in order to initiate dialogue between Turks and Armenians.
In this regard, his suggestions will serve to remove obstacles before the development of a sound relationship between Turkey and Armenia.
