Caspian Report - Issue 06 - Winter 2014

nia. 8 By using the concept of territorial
definition as Western Armenia in the
text of the declaration, the newly created
state also expressed its territorial
claims against Turkey.
The Western Armenia described in
the declaration indicates territory
that is part of modern Turkey. The
conflicting opinions regarding the
evaluation of the 1915 events, and the
possible responsibility to be borne
by Turkey, prevented the formation
of diplomatic relations. 9 It is worth
noting that despite the absence of
diplomatic relations, the border between
the two countries was opened
and Turkey even dispatched food aid
and contributed to the delivery of
Western humanitarian assistance to
Armenia through its territory. 10 The
Turkish border was closed later, due
to another important factor that also
limited the relationship between Turkey
and Armenia: the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
which originated during the time of
the USSR. In this conflict, Turkey has
demonstrated solidarity with Azerbaijan,
whose territory is occupied by Armenia.
This solidarity was manifested
when Turkey closed its border with
Armenia after it occupied Kelbajar
district (near Nagorno-Karabakh) in
April 1993. After the adoption of UN
Security Council Resolution 822 on
April 30 1993, which demanded the
immediate withdrawal of Armenia’s
occupying forces from Kelbajar and
other recently occupied areas of Azerbaijan
11 , Turkey joined Azerbaijan in
imposing an economic embargo on
Armenia and the border between the
two states was closed.
WITH THE ADOPTION OF A NEW FOREIGN POLICY, TURKEY
STARTED UNILATERALLY TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO RESOLVE
PROBLEMS WITH ARMENIA AND TAKE CONFIDENCE-
BUILDING MEASURES.
The absence of bilateral relations
continued until 2008. Then, with the
change of foreign policy, Turkey also
intended to look for ways to form
relations with Armenia. In its turn,
Armenia, which faces economic difficulties,
also hoped to start a process
that would lead to the establishment
of the diplomatic relations and opening
the border without any preconditions.
Such an opportunity came by
chance, and was immediately acted
upon. Both countries’ national football
teams were in the same group of
the European zone of qualification for
the 2010 FIFA World Cup competition.
This circumstance marked the beginning
of a rapprochement between
the states; the process later became
known as “football diplomacy”. This
process started with an invitation by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to
his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul
to attend the first match between the
two national teams, held on Septem-
89
CASPIAN REPORT, WINTER 2014
8
. Armenian Declaration of Independence, http://www.gov.am/en/independence/.
9
. Svante E. Cornell, Turkish-Armenian Relations: Wrong Priority, Wrong Approach, HASEN, p., 109, http://
www.academia.edu/4876695/Turkish-Armenian_Relations_Wrong_Priority_Wrong_Approach
10
. Kemal Kirisci, New Patterns of Turkish Foreign Policy Behavior, edu. Cigdem Balim et al, Turkey: Political,
Social and Economic Changes in the 1990s, Leiden, 1995, p. 18.
11
. Resolution 822 (1993) Adopted by the Security Council at its 3205th meeting, 30.04.1993, http://www.
refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmaindocid=3b00f15764.