01 Sep 2026
Turkey may again resort to 'football diplomacy' in normalization with Armenia, MP says
Turkey may once again resort to "football diplomacy" in the normalization of relations with Armenia, RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing Turkish MP Akif Cagatay Kilic.
In September 2008, then Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to attend a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals between the two nations in Yerevan.
The two leaders watched the return leg of the match in the Turkish city of Bursa a year later.
Negotiations between the Armenian and Turkish delegations were held there, followed by a meeting of the presidents. The normalization process, which fizzled out in the following months due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, was dubbed "football diplomacy”.
The Armenian and Turkish national football teams are set to face again in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
"Euro 2024 qualifying matches between the national teams of the two countries will be held in Armenia on March 25 and in Turkey in September. Our team will go there, maybe we will go too. The normalization process is going well. Positive dynamics is observed in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations as well. This must be done without resorting to provocations," Star quoted Kilic as saying.
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