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No politics during Turkey-Armenia soccer game-PM
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has confirmed his attendance at a World Cup qualifier in Turkey on Wednesday, which will take place days after Ankara and Yerevan signed an accord to end a century of hostility.
Turkish leader Abdullah Gül went last year to Yerevan to the first leg of what has been called "soccer diplomacy" between the two countries, whose ties are traumatised by the mass killings from both sides during World War One.
"The Armenian president and the Armenian national team will see what Turkish hospitality is," Erdoğan told deputies of his ruling AK Party ahead of the game in the city of Bursa.
"I know our soccer fans in Bursa and in the rest of the country will behave like respectable fans. I believe our country and the citizens of Bursa will not bow their heads to politics and to the aims of those who want to use the game to achieve something else," Erdoğan said.
Turkish media said authorities will undertake tight security measures to avoid possible provocations during the game. Akşam newspaper said fans would not be allowed to buy tickets for the match, instead authorities would control ticket distribution.
The match is seen as another step in normalising ties.
Despite having signed accords on Saturday to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their border, Turkey's demands for progress on the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, could see efforts to end a century of hostility between Turkey and Armenia stalled for months to come.
Turkey stands to boost its credentials as a moderniser in the West and remove another hurdle in its bid to join the European Union if Ankara and Yerevan can seal the rapprochement, but for now Turkey says it wants Armenian concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh to satisfy close Muslim ally Azerbaijan.
Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan which was then fighting a losing battle against Armenian separatists in Karabakh.
The governor of Bursa has said Azeri flags will not be allowed into the stadium for the match, media reports said, but Turkish nationalists have made some 10,000 of the flags and are distributing them in the northwestern town.
In the Azeri capital Baku, a group calling itself the Karabakh Liberation Organisation held a brief protest near the Turkish embassy, burning pictures of Turkey's Gül, Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
Protests are rare in the tightly-run former Soviet republic. Several dozen people took part, shouting "Turkey, don't sell Karabakh to the Armenians", "Karabakh or death" and "Shame on the Turkish leadership", a Reuters reporter said.
Police later broke up the demonstration and several people were arrested.
The deal needs parliamentary approval in Turkey and Armenia. Sarksyan in particular faces vehement opposition from nationalists at home and the powerful Armenian diaspora abroad.
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