The state elites regarded the presidency as an office of bureaucratic oversight over the regime and did not seem at all ready to approve of a president whose wife wears the Islamic headscarf, regarded as a symbol of opposition to the kind of secularism they espouse.My fears did not prove unfounded, unfortunately, and the nomination and eventual election of Gül to the presidency did lead to a serious political crisis that dominated Turkish politics from April 2007, when the military made a statement on its Web site opposing Gül's election, until July 2008, when the Constitutional Court decided not to close but fine the AKP. The crisis cannot yet said to be fully over, since 10 out of 11 judges agreed that the AKP is indeed the focal point of activities against secularism as claimed by the chief prosecutor.
I, of course, fully respected Parliament's decision last August to elect Gül as Turkey's 11th president. I must, however, admit that I regard Gül's visit to Yerevan on the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan to attend the World Cup football game between Turkey and Armenia as his first commendable performance in the presidential office. I truly hope that "football diplomacy" will pave the way for the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of borders between Turkey and Armenia.
The decision of Gül to accept Sarksyan's invitation is surely part of the AKP government's initiative to form a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform between Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in the wake of the war between Russia and Georgia last month. Still, I most cordially congratulate President Gül for showing leadership and taking the bold step to make this historic visit to Yerevan amidst protests by the opposition parties.
Ever since the early 1990s I have been strongly in favor of dialogue as the way to overcome differences and resolve disputes between Turkey and Armenia. The current international conjuncture finally seems to be favorable for reconciliation between the two sides. President Sarksyan recently underlined that no Armenian official has ever made any territorial claims on Turkey and that Armenia does not expect Ankara to recognize as genocide the tragedy that befell Ottoman Armenians during World War I. He has not rejected the proposal by Ankara to refer the question as to what happened to the Ottoman Armenians to an international committee of historians once diplomatic relations have been established between the two sides.
Establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of borders with Armenia will be of great economic benefit not only to Armenia but also to Turkey. The end of Armenia's isolation and dependence on Russia and Iran and the ability to access Caspian Sea and Central Asian energy resources and markets through Armenia is certainly in the best interest of Turkey. The AKP government's policy of resolving differences with other neighboring states by diplomacy and deepening of economic interdependence has surely been of great benefit to Turkey in terms of both promoting economic growth and enhancing border security. It is time for this policy to be expanded to cover relations with Armenia.
Once the relations between Turkey and Armenia are normalized, Ankara will have greater leverage in mediating and facilitating reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which is so crucial for securing peace and stability in the Caucasus. What logic can there be in Ankara not talking to Yerevan to resolve differences when Yerevan and Baku have long been negotiating with each other.
Despite the obvious benefits of normalization of relations with Yerevan, opposition parties in Turkey have strongly opposed Gül's visit. Mr. Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), said he would "rather go to see a game in Baku than one in Yerevan" and mockingly remarked that "Gül may as well lay a wreath at the ‘Genocide Monument' in Yerevan." Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), claimed that Gül's visit was not only a big mistake, but also "injurious to national honor." No wonder, according to the latest surveys, the share of the opposition parties in the national vote is fast declining while the AKP's is on the rise.
