Armenia ? Armenia and Turkey, bitter foes for a century, took a step toward reconciliation Monday by announcing they would launch final talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties. But they won’t discuss the deepest source of their enmity: the World War I-era massacres of Armenians under Ottoman rule.

Both sides said in a joint statement they expected the talks to take six weeks and to end with an agreement setting up and developing ties. The two countries, whose shared border is closed, are U.S. allies and came under American and European pressure to move toward peace.

The talks still face pitfalls, and will follow months of inactivity after signs of promise earlier in the year when President Barack Obama appealed for reconciliation during a visit to Turkey.