After a century of hostility dominating the relations between the two countries, Turkey and Armenia, on 10th of October, finally signed a landmark agreement to establish diplomatic relations and open their sealed border.

The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed the accord in Zurich, Switzerland, after a last minute disagreement over the wording of statements when the U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton helped the two sides to salvage a deal. In the end, the signing took place about three hours later than scheduled, and there were no spoken statements. The delay of the ceremony illustrated the potential challenges of the implementation of the accords.

The Turkish and Armenian parliaments must now ratify the deal to strengthen their stance against the opposition from nationalists on both sides and an Armenian diaspora that insists that Turkey acknowledge the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.

This agreement, the culmination of three years of intensive diplomacy, establishes a joint historical commission to examine the issue, thus marking a new chapter in the historical debates over Armenian claims of genocide by Turkish Ottoman forces nearly a century ago. The discussions are to include “an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations”.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the signing a “historic decision” that “constitutes a milestone toward the establishment of good neighbourly relations,” spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said his country was taking “responsible decisions” in normalizing relations with Turkey, despite what he called the unhealable wounds of genocide.

Erdogan told the reporters “We are trying to boost our relations with Armenia in a way that will cause no hard feelings for Azerbaijan.”

The agreement also constitutes a step for Armenia to work with Azerbaijan towards a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute that prevails since Armenia’s occupation in 1993 of this area, a territory claimed by Ankara’s ally, Azerbaijan.