Onnik Krekorian was at the historic Turkey-Armenia World Cup qualifying match, and has lots of photos and coverage of the politics surrounding it.
It is notable because Turkish President Abdullah Gul traveled to Armenia to watch the proceedings. Onnik covers all of this; his post is worth the read. UEFA President Michel Platini thanked the two countries for the good sportsmanship:
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the two associations and the players. They have provided an extraordinary example of the power of sport’s spirit, and have sent out a considerable message of hope in a region which has a great need of such messages.”
Indeed. It was nice to see Turkey and Armenia talking to each other, even if all of their issues are not resolved. Meanwhile, Russia agreed to a limited troop pullout from Georgia.
This post was written by...
Joshua Foust – author of 1771 posts on Registan.net.
Joshua Foust is a Fellow at the American Security Project and the author of Afghanistan Journal: Selections from Registan.net. His research focuses primarily on Central and South Asia. Joshua is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a columnist for PBS Need to Know. Joshua appears regularly on the BBC World News, Aljazeera, and international public radio. Joshua is also a regular contributor to Foreign Policy’s AfPak Channel, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Reuters, and the Christian Science Monitor. Follow him on twitter: @joshuafoust