Posted By Joshua Keating

Top story: Despite Saturday's historic signing of an accord to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia, signs emerged over the weekend that the nearly century-old hostility between the two countries remains far from resolved. 

Saturday's signing in Zurich nearly didn't happen due to a disagreement over language, but was salvaged by last minute intervention from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The agreement restores normal diplomatic relations between the two countries and commits them to opening up their border and "begin dialogue" over the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. 

On Sunday, however, Turkish Prime Minister said that the treaty would not be ratified unless Armenia withdrew its troops from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. "As long as Armenia does not withdraw from occupied territories in Azerbaijan, Turkey cannot take up a positive position," he said. Major disagreements also remain over how the historical record will be examined to determine whether the 1915 killings were, in fact, a genocide. 

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan will visit Turkey this week to watch a World Cup qualifying match. "Soccer diplomacy" has been a regular feature in the lead-up to Saturday's accord. 

Nobels: U.S. economists Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the economics prize.


Asia

Middle East

Europe

Africa

  • A strike has been called in Guinea to protest the killing of dozens of demonstrators by the military two weeks ago. 
  • The Zimbabwean state has renounced several of Robert Mugabe's top officials who have been accused of torture. 
  • A Sudanese court upheld the death sentences of four men convicted of murdering a U.S. envoy and his driver in January.

Americas

  • Mexico is shutting down a major state-run energy company in the midst of a labor dispute. 
  • Hundreds were left homeless by slum fires in Sao Paulo.
  • A Cuban man was arrested by U.S. authorities for a 1968 plane hijacking at Kennedy airport. 



ABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images
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