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Semih Senturk of Turkey celebrates his team's goal against Armenia during their World Cup 2010 qualifier soccer match at the Hrazdan Stadium in Yerevan September 6, 2008. (REUTERS)
Turkey's Emre Belozoglu, left, battles for a ball with Armenia's Artur Voksanyan, during their World Cup group 5 qualifying soccer match in Yerevan, Armenia, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. Turkey won the match 2-0. (AP)
GOOD START FOR FATIH TERIM'S BOYS!.....
Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk scored second-half goals Saturday to give Turkey a 2-0 win at Armenia in World Cup qualifying.
Tuncay gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute, scoring from close range. Senturk made it 2-0 in the 79th, capitalizing on a defender's mistake in the box.
On Wednesday, Turkey hosts Belgium and Armenia is at European champion Spain.
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia are also in Group 5
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) will air a World Cup qualifying match between the Turkish and Armenian national teams on Saturday, TRT officials have announced.
A nine-member TRT team will travel to Armenia to cover the game.
But while in Armenia, they will also have interviews with Armenian nationals in the capital city of Yerevan and prepare news features to give the Turkish audience a better insight into daily life in this neighboring country.
The TRT recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Armenia's state-owned Public Television Company to cooperate in a number of areas.
The document, signed in Ankara on Aug. 26, envisages that the two broadcasters will produce TV programs that will help improve dialogue between Turkey and Armenia, exchange information and experiences and collaborate on entertainment and drama programs and documentaries.
News reports in Azerbaijani media said last week that the first radio broadcast was organized by Turkish Armenians in the early 1900s.
Galatasaray said it had also agreed with Goldman Sachs on issuing a $50 million bond, which could extend to $70 million.
Turkey's Soccer club Galatasaray said on Friday it has mandated investment bank Goldman Sachs to help restructure the Turkish league champion and obtain a $100 million loan.
Galatasaray said in a statement it had also agreed with Goldman Sachs on issuing a $50 million bond, which could extend to $70 million.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul will travel Saturday to Armenia to watch a World Cup soccer qualifying match between the two countries -- a move promoted as a step toward bolstering relations between neighbor nations with a long history of animosity.
"We believe such visit will contribute to the creation of a warmer friendship climate in the region," said a statement from Gul's office, which added Armenian President Serj Sarkisyan extended the invitation. "Our president has accepted the invitation with this understanding," it said.
"It is also hoped this visit will offer the opportunity for the citizens of two nations to understand each other better."
Gul would be the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia, which was a Soviet republic until 1991, in an official capacity.
The neighboring nations in the Caucasus region, straddling Europe and the Middle East, have no official diplomatic relations and their shared border has has been closed since 1993.
Much of the animosity stems from mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Armenians call the killings genocide. Historians estimate about 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire -- the predecessor to modern Turkey -- during the war.
Turkey, which is now a secular and democratic Muslim nation, calls the killings part of the natural course of war, says far fewer than 1.5 million Armenians were killed and says a comparable number of Turks died in the conflict.
Last year, members of the U.S. House of Representatives sponsored a resolution that would have declared the killings an act of genocide. But, under pressure from the Bush administration, House leaders dropped plans for a vote.
The administration was trying to persuade Turkey not to launch cross-border raids into Iraq against Kurdish rebels and Turkey had threatened to curtail U.S. access to military bases used to support U.S. troops in Iraq if the resolution had passed.
In 2005, Turkey moved away from its historical position of blanket denial -- calling for an "open investigation" by scholars from both countries into the genocide allegations. The Armenian government has declined to take part, calling it a political maneuver.
When the soccer match was announced last year -- the first time the two nations have played each other in soccer at the highest level -- questions were raised as to whether tensions would be too high for the game to be played as planned.
But political and sports leaders from both nations quickly moved to play down the political implications of the match, in which Turkey is heavily favored.
"You cannot play a game thinking about those things," Turkish coach Fatih Terim told the Turkish Daily News. "We cannot carry the weight of history on our shoulders."
