July 16 (Reuters) - Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia remain bitterly divided over their troubled history and their border is closed despite peace accords signed last year.
In a gesture to help heal wounds, Turkey will open a 10th century Armenian church in eastern Turkey on Sept. 19 for a one-day religious service that could become an annual event.
Here are some facts about Turkish-Armenian history and ties:
– The Church of the Holy Cross was built between 915 and 921 A.D., during the reign of Gagik I of the Armenian kingdom of Vaspurakan; it is regarded as one of the finest architectural examples of the once thriving Armenian civilisation in Turkey; there were some 2,000 Armenian Christian churches in Turkey, but only 45 are left standing today following the turmoil that accompanied the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
– Armenia, backed by many historians, says some 1.5 million Armenians were killed during World War I in what amounted to genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks; Ankara rejects the genocide label and says large numbers of both Armenians and Turks died; some 70,000 or so Armenian Christians live in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul; in the late 19th century, the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian minority numbered some 2 million.
– Brokered by the United States, Russia and the European Union, Turkey and Armenia signed accords in 2009 to establish diplomatic ties and open one of Europe’s last closed borders; Ankara and Yerevan have accused each other of trying to re-write the texts; in April Yerevan froze ratification of the accord after months of deadlock from both sides.
– The conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia has loomed over attempts to end the hostility; Turkey demands that ethnic Armenian forces pull back from the frontlines of Nagorno-Karabakh as a condition for ratifying the deal; Ankara’s condition is aimed at placating Muslim ally Azerbaijan, an oil and gas exporter which lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh as the Soviet Union collapsed.
– The rift between Turkey and Armenia has poisoned ties between Ankara and its close ally the United States; Turkey briefly withdrew its ambassador to Washington in protest earlier this year after a U.S. House committee approved a non-binding resolution labelling the 1915 events as genocide; in a visit to both countries earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was a U.S. priority to help Armenia and Azerbaijan settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to bring stability to the Caucasus.
