The disagreement stemmed from the Armenian delegation’s objection to an implicit reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in a speech intended to be delivered by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu at the end of the ceremony. At a point where the holding of the ceremony seemed deadlocked, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped in, and Davutoğlu proposed that no speeches be delivered by him or his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, and the crisis was overcome. The general mood in the media is positive in that the protocol was signed despite the crisis at the end of the day, and there is the belief that Turkey is taking significant steps in line with its “zero problems with its neighbors” policy and becoming a prominent country.Discussing why Davutoğlu had a smiling face contrary to Nalbandian’s frowning visage during the signing ceremony, Sabah’s Nazlı Ilıcak says Davutoğlu smiled because the point which has been reached with Armenia is a part of Turkey’s policy which foresees minimizing Turkey’s problems with its neighbors and cooperation based on trust. “Turkey took the initiative to normalize its relations with Armenia. Greece, Syria, Iraq and now Armenia. By eliminating all the obstacles blocking our way in foreign policy, Turkey is becoming a prominent country. Davutoğlu, who overcame the signature crisis, would surely smile,” suggests Ilıcak.
Zaman’s Mehmet Yılmaz indicates that by signing the agreement on Saturday, Turkey and Armenia embarked upon a road from which there is no turning back. He defines this road as one which will be traversed together by confronting the past as he adds: “With this protocol, Turkey and Armenia defined the relationship between them and set the framework of this relationship. In other words, the political leaders of Turkey and Armenia committed to abandoning ‘a political understanding based on hostility.’ They mentioned that they will not make old bitter stories a tool of politics and they will not let anyone who wants to use those stories as such do so. They meant that they will respect each other’s entity.” In this, Yılmaz says all this shows that a new language of politics is being created between Turkey and Armenia.
Milliyet’s Semih İdiz says even though the first step toward peace with Armenia was taken with difficulty, everyone has to accept the fact that a new and significant era has begun in Turkish-Armenian relations, which also interests the world very much. He also acknowledges that the last-minute crisis shows how pressing the process of normalization will be, suggesting that if both counties are sincere in their desire to establish diplomatic relations, the governments in both countries should demonstrate a stronger will from now on. Nevertheless, İdiz thinks that Nalbandian’s attitude, which led to the crisis on Saturday, has had a demoralizing effect in this regard.
“Nobody said it would be an easy process,” says Radikal’s Ceyda Karan, who thinks the point was to start somewhere for the normalization of relations between the estranged neighbors and lauds the fact that Turkey and Armenia set out on their normalization process on Saturday night despite all their skepticism.
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