A squad of 31 athletes is set to represent Turkey at the PanArmenian Games, hoping to contribute to the dialogue between the two countries.

The games, which will bring together Armenian-origin athletes from more than 80 countries from all over the world, will be organized from Aug. 9 to 16 in Yerevan. Despite financial woes, Turkish Armenians decided to participate, thanks to financial support from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Şişli Municipality, going to the games to defend its title of the “team that represents its city the best,” which it won in 2007.

But it must be noted that not everything went well for the Istanbul athletes in previous games. A brawl broke out in a basketball game between American-Armenian team Glendale and the Turkish-Armenian team in 2007, after a Glendale team member verbally insulted his opponents. The police had to intervene in the brawl, but Turkish captain Akın Tekbıçak later added that two teams’ members made peace after a dinner together.

Garo Hamamcıyan, co-captain of the Turkish-Armenian squad, said the reception they got was much worse in early PanArmenian Games, but that things have changed.

“When we first went to Armenia [in 1999], there was prejudice and a certain distance toward us. They would not accept us as Armenians,” Hamamcıyan, a trainer and a former football player, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Hamamcıyan notes that the number of Armenian people coming to Turkey for work has directly helped break the ice.

“About 40,000 Armenian people are working in Turkey,” said Hamamcıyan. “That contact has helped break the wall between Armenian people and Istanbul-based Armenians.”

Hamamcıyan, who was a prolific striker at Istanbul club Sarıyer in the early 1970s, said sports have always been a major factor in bringing countries together.

“In the past, many troubled countries took their first step toward amity with the help of sports,” said Hamamcıyan. “I hope that a new process that started with ‘football diplomacy’ will echo in relations between Turkish and Armenian people.”

“Football diplomacy” refers to the Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifying round game in Yerevan on Sept. 6 at which Turkish President Abdullah Gül met with Armenian President Serge Sarkisian.

Hamamcıyan believes the Turkish team, which still has a dim chance of making it to the World Cup, is the favorite for winning the second game in Bursa in October, but regardless of the result, the game may be another opportunity to build on the positive steps of better relations between the two countries.

Source: Hurriyet
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=istanbul-squad-aims-more-than-medals-in-panarmenian-games-2009-07-23