Turkey-Armenia rapprochement process started before the football match, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated before leaving for Iraq, CNNTurk reports.

“I consider match was held in peaceful atmosphere and Armenia saw hospitality of Turkish people,” Erdogan said.

Yesterday Turkey-Armenia football match took place in Bursa. Armenian and Turkish Presidents Abdullah Gul and Serzh Sargsyan attended.

The two leaders’ negotiations were held in Almira hotel right before the match and later dinner was offered in honour of high rank guests.

Despite Armenian team lost 0:2, according to Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan “it was something more than just a sport event.” He stated that it has evoked a wide response and inaugurated the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.