So let us first recapture the sports dimension. Result on the pitch? Turkey won 2-0 in Bursa, and even non-soccer enthusiasts would have to agree deservedly so. What underlines my comment about fair play and decency in a sport that has become far too commercial, with players changing clubs while immense sums of money are changing hands, is the image of the scorer of the first goal, Halil Altıntop, rushing to the sidelines hugging departing national team coach Fatih Terim. It was as if all 11 players had rolled up their sleeves to bid farewell to their coach by putting on display a show of perfect soccer. One might ask why the Turkish national side was not able to achieve similar successes in previous qualifying rounds, but I happily leave this discussion in the hands of much more experienced colleagues. Another image from the night that left a lasting impression on me was watching Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan sitting next to Turkish President Abdullah Gül while both were following the game. When Altıntop scored the first goal the Armenian guest of honor smiled, and so did his Turkish host. National team football matches must be understood as one country's best players taking on another country's elite team, and whoever is the best on the day or night should win. If only politics were that simple -- let me now approach the second aspect of today's issue. Turkey and Armenia are in the process of re-establishing close ties between each other. The Zurich accord must thus be seen as a landmark declaration that hopefully paves the way for a reciprocal opening of the border, allowing landlocked Armenia to be fully integrated into the global economy while giving Turkey another chance to demonstrate to the international community that “realpolitik” has become the order of the day in Ankara. Not at any price, though, and while all observers know that Nagorno-Karabakh is a thorny issue, the most important part of the agreement hammered out in Switzerland is that Turkey was not forced to sign any final declaration that would create the feeling that the G-word has now become mainstream. Exactly the opposite is true, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan only yesterday reiterated his sentiments about Turkey not taking orders from any third party.
So is the Zurich declaration the final breakthrough? Nearly! There is a certain hesitation as we must not forget that both parliaments must ratify its contents, and this will not happen without debate and there is even a slight risk that it will not happen at all. Debate is good, though, and I hope that lawmakers in both houses will take the historic opportunity to show to the world that the intended normalization of ties is first of all based on two individual nation-states' reasoning and not on outsiders' meddling in domestic affairs. The fact that French, US and other foreign politicians managed not only to attend but to support Armenian-Turkish shuttle diplomacy is not a sign of undue external interference, but of the culmination of Turkey becoming a regional powerhouse.
After having studied the European Union's most recent progress report on Turkey in its position as a candidate country, quite a lot of space was reserved for foreign and security policy. It seems Brussels appreciates Ankara's ongoing efforts to mediate in the Middle East and the southern Caucasus as well as becoming an energy hub. Normalizing ties between Yerevan and Ankara is a key development in that broader picture, too. However, I must stress that while President Sarksyan is a strong advocate of rapprochement, there is the Armenian lobby in both Paris and Washington, too.
As long as Ankara remains a strong defender of normalization with Armenia while not offending Baku, many, though perhaps not all, the cards are in Turkey's hands. Azerbaijan has to understand, though, that Turkey now has many obligations, exceeding its links to a few preferred nations, and must live and engage with all of them. If normalizing ties between Armenia and Turkey facilitates Turkey's EU accession -- so be it.
Turkey seems to be on the right track more off than on the pitch. Fair play is, however, something that everyone from Capitol Hill to the Élysée and anywhere in between must fully embrace.
