"By visiting Yerevan on Saturday, Gul will in fact take a giant step for the future. I don't think that Gul will visit the genocide monument, but if he were to, history could have opened the doors wide. Turkey could have made a leap forward, let alone just a few steps," Turkish Daily News observer Cengiz Candar writes.

"Such a gesture has nothing to do with acceptance of genocide. Such a gesture only means "Gul is cognizant to tragic memories of our common past. And I, as the president of Turkey, do have respect to all," he writes.

Gul will be in Yerevan on Sept. 6 for a qualifying World Cup game between the Armenian and Turkish national teams.