Turkey, Armenia edge near diplomacy

YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia and Turkey, bitter foes for a century, took a step toward reconciliation Monday by announcing they would launch final talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties. But they won't discuss the deepest source of their enmity: the World War I-era massacres of Armenians under Ottoman rule.

Both sides said in a joint statement they expected the talks to take six weeks and to end with an agreement setting up and developing ties. The two countries, whose shared border is closed, are U.S. allies and came under American and European pressure to move toward peace.

The talks still face pitfalls, and will follow months of inactivity after signs of promise earlier in the year when President Barack Obama appealed for reconciliation during a visit to Turkey.

The parliaments of the two countries must ratify a deal on diplomatic normalization, and in Turkey, nationalist sentiment and suspicion about Armenian intentions is particularly high.

Also, despite an agreement that the process should proceed without preconditions, Turkey's prime minister has linked it to a resolution of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region that was occupied by Armenian troops. The Turkish population shares close cultural and linguistic relations with Azerbaijan, which is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday that Turkey would "guard" Azerbaijan's interest during its reconciliation with Armenia, saying in broadcast comments that "our aim is to establish stability in the Caucasus."

Turkey, however, clearly seeks to enhance its growing image as a regional statesman and a coveted ally of world powers in a strategic and often unstable region. The rapprochement with Armenia coincides with efforts to resolve a long-running feud with Turkey's Kurdish minority — issues that are vital to Turkish efforts to earn membership in the European Union.

Turkey's Islamic-oriented government is not immune to domestic pressure, especially from nationalists who believe Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to undermine secular principles. That internal division has contributed to slow progress on the Armenian issue.

"Turkey was perceived in Washington as the party that was dragging its feet," said Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey project at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Taspinar said the announcement of talks was positive, but that it might be more cosmetic than substantive.

"It's better than nothing," he said. "We have plenty of reasons to be skeptical."