The presidents of Turkey and Armenia will build on recent moves to end a century of enmity when they attend a World Cup soccer qualifier between their respective teams in Turkey today. Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended an initial soccer game in Armenia last year. The so-called “football diplomacy” contributed to the signing of a pact to establish diplomatic ties and open their border over the weekend. The deal must be approved by both countries parliaments and that’s no sure thing as it is controversial on several levels.

While transformative for the Caucuses, there are many who are dead set against the deal. A day after the deal was signed, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan repeated a demand that Armenia relinquish control over the disputed Azerbaijan enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area is inhabited mainly by ethnic Armenians. In a show of solidarity with ally Azerbaijan in 1993, Turkey sealed its border with Armenia in response to the country’s invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh. The deal also faces strong opposition from the Armenian diaspora, which insists that Turkey concede that the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounts to genocide. Turkey says the number is inflated and that many died on both sides during a chaotic period.

Here to talk about the deal is Georgi Derluguian, Associate Professor of Sociology at Northwestern. Georgi’s family hails from Armenia, they were expelled in 1918.