Wonders never cease, sort ot...

Yesterday’s Times reported that Turkey and Armenia are moving towards establishing diplomatic ties after nearly a century of mutual antagonism.

The two countries are to hold six weeks of talks aimed at developing ties after which MPs on both sides will vote on agreed protocols, their foreign ministries announced in a joint statement. The protocols are intended to establish diplomatic ties and develop bilateral relations.

The Elephant in the room will not be subject of discussion though— the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough have been growing before a planned visit by Armenian President Serge Sarkisian to Turkey in October, to attend a World Cup qualifying football match between the two countries. Last year Abdullah Gül, the Turkish President, paid an unprecedented visit to Armenia and sat alongside Mr Sarkisian in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to watch the 2008 qualifying match.

While the Armenian massacre will not be a deal breaker for the Armenians, Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has linked the discussions to a resolution of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region occupied by Armenian troops. Turkey closed the border between the two countries in 1993 as a gesture of support for Azerbaijan in the dispute and Azerbaijan is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land.

"We want to normalise our relations with Armenia, but we also want full normalisation of relations in the South Caucasus, including Nagorno-Karabakh," said Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu "This would provide a stable, sustainable peace and stability in our region. The Caucasus has already suffered a lot from ethnic tension and frozen conflicts," he said. "We know very well from our experiences in the Caucasus and Balkans that frozen conflicts are like bombs in our hands and if we cannot control them, they could blow up in our hands," Mr Davutoglu said.

What to say? Better indeed to jaw-jaw than War-war. I have no idea what will come of these talks but if it can at least open some level of communication between the two countries then that cannot be a bad thing.

Azeri security forces flush out Eurovision traitors

The right choice

Security forces in Azerbaijan have launched a campaign against the dozens of citizens who committed high treason by voting for the Armenian entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

To say that there is no love lost between the two nations is a little like saying Antarctica is a bit nippy. Folowing the 1990s war over Nagorno-Karabakh all borders between the two countries remain closed and tensions remain high.

According to the Independent Rovshan Nasirli, a resident of Azerbaijan's capital Baku, was one of 43 people in the country to vote for Armenia's entry "Jan-Jan", sung by the duo Inga and Anush. He told Radio Liberty that he had been summoned to the country's national security ministry last week to explain himself.

"They wanted an explanation for why I voted for Armenia. They said it was a matter of national security," said Mr Nasirli, who voted by text message. "They were trying to put psychological pressure on me, saying things like, 'You have no sense of ethnic pride. How come you voted for Armenia?' They made me write out an explanation, and then they let me go."

Boy have you made a mistake

Luckily for Mr Nasirli, he had a cast-iron excuse for voting for Inga and Anush. He didn't like the Azerbaijani entry, which featured an Iranian singer based in Sweden, and voted for Armenia because the song actually sounded "more Azeri"

Hmm now there’s surveillance technology put to good use I don’t think. As for getting irate over who votes for who in the Eurovision, if there is a grain of truth in this story, the Azerbaijan government should find some greater threat to national security like the evil bastards who step on the cracks on pavements.

This is an extreme example of what makes me loathe nationalism.

The Turkish publisher of a British writer goes on trial today accused of publishing books “insulting Turkishness”. Ragip Zarakolu is facing up to three years in prison for publishing a book that promotes reconciliation between Turks and Armenians - by George Jerjian, a writer living in London. The Truth Will Set Us Free was translated into Turkish in 2005. It chronicles the life of Jenjian’s grandmother who survived the early 20th century massacres of Armenians thanks to an Ottoman soldier.

Zarakolu is being tried under Turkey's 301 article of law, the same legislation that was used against Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk in 2005. However, senior officials in Turkey's current administration have promised to rescind the notorious piece of legislation. Yesterday the Turkish justice minister, Mehmet Ali said that "freely expressed views that neither promote terrorism nor violence should be protected".

While Turkish diplomats admit that the law has probably done more damage to Ankara's efforts to join the EU than any other single piece of legislation, there has been little headway made over reforming the spirit and letter of the law. State prosecutors and police officials continue to level charges against artists, musicians and writers perceived to publicly denigrate However, the unveiling of a new constitution later this month will be a significant turning point in the campaign to overturn the law.