September Meeting During Soccer Match Pays Off
Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, and Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, were awarded the Peace and Sport Award for their historic meeting which took place in September. The International Peace and Sport Organization boasts on their website that “Thanks to football, this moment marked the end of nearly two decades of diplomatic silence.”
The awards ceremony took place at the International Peace and Sport Forum’s 2008 session in Monaco. Prince Albert II of Monaco presented the award jointly to Mahmut Ozgener, President of the Turkish Football Federation, and to Armen Grigorian, Armenian Minister of Youth and Sport.
The September leaders meeting, which ended in a landmark handshake, took place in Yerevan during a qualifying match for the Football World Cup. Though the two met in a very casual atmosphere, it has begun a warmer period of relations. The two countries still have no diplomatic ties and the border they share, has been closed for more than a decade. Armenia continues to pressure the international community to admit the Armenian Genocide instead of accepting Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations.
Adam Hazzout
