The Turkey-Armenia agreement

The agreement signed between Turkey and Armenia in Zurich on Sunday is a significant reconciliation between two historic enemies. At the last minute some hitches came up that nearly prevented the signing, and if it were not for the gathering of many foreign ministers, including Secty Of State Clinton and the Russian and EU representatives, the signing might have been cancelled instead of just postponed for 3 hours. But, it was finally signed, although still requiring ratification by both parliaments.
The history is of course one of severe persecution of Armenians by Turks. Originally Armenia was a large country in the late Middle Ages stretching from Russia to the Mediterranean, but when the Turks, first the Seljuks and then the Ottomans, expanded from Asia, they conquered most of the Armenian empire. This resulted in a large Armenian minority within the Turkish Empire, and the Turks treated them especially badly, because they were Christian. Most of the other minorities, including the Kurds and Arabs were of course Muslim.
During WWI, there were rumors that the Armenians were preparing an insurrection to regain their independence. Whether this was true or not, the Turks acted viciously against the Armenians, essentially driving them off their lands and into the Syrian desert, where many of them perished. With many massacres, altogether it is estimated that between 1915-1922 ca.1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered.
One of the big problems is that the Turks have refused to accept responsibility for this "genocide," arguing that the new Turkey that was founded out of the ruins of the Turkish Empire under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk, was not itself responsible for these slaughters. There has been a resolution pending before the US House of Representatives for some time initiated by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) blaming Turkey for the Armenian genocide, supported by Armenian Americans and many Jews. In view of the current Turkish refusal to cooperate with Israel in scheduled war games, that caused both the US and Italy also to withdraw from this annual event, Israel is currently re-thinking its selling of arms systems to Turkey and many Jews are considering supporting the resolution in Congress.
The agreement that was signed includes opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia for goods and people, that will help Armenia's economy, as well as the establishment of a commisssion to look into the history and come up with a definitive account. Both sides fear negative reaction from their nationalist extremes. Also, Azerbaijan is an ally of Turkey and has been at war with Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Since that dispute has not been resolved, Azerbaijan is angry with its ally for making peace with its Armenian enemy.
In the case of Armenia there is also a large Armenian diaspora that tends to be more nationalistic than the home country. This is quite different from the Jewish diaspora that tends to be much more liberal than the home country, Israel. The reasons for this difference might form the basis of an interesting essay. In any case, the rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, as with the two Irelands, shows that apparently intractible problems can in fact be overcome. But, don't expect a similar change in the Palestinian-Israel situation any time soon.