Gul upbeat after Armenia visit

ANKARA 2008 (AFP) - Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul returned from Armenia with hopes of normalising troubled ties as Turkish newspapers Sunday warned against squandering the opportunity presented by his historic visit.

Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia when he flew to Yerevan Saturday for a football match and talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian from which both leaders emerged with pledges to overcome a history of enmity.

Speaking to reporters on his return flight, Gul sounded upbeat about a possible breakthrough if the two estranged neighbours managed to build up on his trip.

“I believe my visit has demolished a psychological barrier in the Caucasus,” Gul was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying. “If this climate continues, everything will move forward and normalise.”

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been closed for more than a decade. Their relationship has been taken hostage by deep differences over the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Turkey.