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No Incentive for Turkey, Armenia To Normalize Relations

The Armenian genocide issue will not play a role in the normalizing of Armenia-Turkey relations, Cengiz Candar writes.

Presidents Serzh Sarksyan of Armenia (L)  and Abdullah Gul of Turkey listen to the national anthems prior the World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match betwwen Turkey and Armenia at Ataturk stadium in Bursa, western Turkey, October 14, 2009. The presidents of Turkey and Armenia attended a World Cup soccer match courting popular support for an agreement to reopen their border and restore ties poisoned over a century of mutual hostility. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY POLITICS SPORT SOCCER) - RTXPMWS
Presidents Serzh Sarksyan of Armenia (L) and Abdullah Gul of Turkey at a World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match in Bursa, Turkey, October 14, 2009. — REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Hopes that Turkey could ever solve its almost intractable Kurdish issue have never been as high as they were in the first quarter of 2013. If this peace process can continue with all its ups and downs but without rupture, it could that suggest that another perennial issue as old as the Kurdish issue, the Armenian question, can also be tackled.

Of course, there is a fundamental difference. The Kurdish issue directly concerns 15 million people living in Turkey as Turkish citizens and more than 30 million other Kurds living in the region and majority populations of tens of millions living in those countries. The Armenian question is about the perishing of a national community on the land they have been living for time immemorial. Today, the question is more about its deep psychological scars rather than its physical aspects.

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