Armanian president plans to invite Turkish PM to watch soccer game

Sargsyan said Armenia would accept Turkey's proposal to establish a joint historical commission, in case the border between Turkey and Armenia has been reopened.  Â

In 2005, Turkey officially proposed to the Armenian government the establishment of a joint historical commission composed of historians and other experts from both sides to study together the events of 1915 and to open the archives of Turkey and Armenia, as well as the archives of all relevant third-party countries and share their findings publicly. Unfortunately, Armenia has not yet responded positively to this initiative and Turkey's proposal remains on the table.

If the commission is established before the opening of the border, it means that you said yes to the start of an uncertain process of which consequences would not be estimated," Sargsyan said.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic links since Ankara intensified its protests against Armenian invasion and violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia invaded in a war with Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. The border between Turkey and Armenia has been closed.

Sargsyan added that if the border between two countries is opened, the work on the commission would be accelerated.

Armenia, with the backing of the Diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. Turkey rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with at least as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when the Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.

He also said Armenia was ready to take new steps to normalize the relations between the two countries, adding he has been planning to invite Erdogan to Armenia soon.

"We can watch Armenia-Turkey match together, and then discuss bilateral relations," Sargsyan said.

Turkish and Armenian national football teams are in the same group in the World Cup 2010 qualifying stage.