Armenia: 10,000 Turkish Football Fans?

Ahead of September’s historic football match between estranged neighbors Armenia and Turkey, Unzipped comments on rumors circulating in Yerevan that as many as 10,000 Turkish football fans might descend on the capital. The blog notes that “football diplomacy” might yet represent a real possibility for a breakthrough in relations between two countries which currently have no diplomatic ties.

[…] The hope is that the main Hrazdan stadium reconstruction would be finished by then. Otherwise, it would be a tough task to accommodate local and Turkish fans in much smaller Republican stadium. The other tough task, unrelated to the stadium issue, is to prevent any possible nationalist outburst from both sides, and especially from host’s side of course. […]

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The importance of this football match went well beyond sporting significance as it is expected that Turkish president might accept his Armenian counterpart’s invitation and visit Armenia, for the first time ever. “Football diplomacy” between our countries became THE topic of discussion in recent months in what some consider as a possibility of a “breakthrough” in Armenia-Turkey relations.