Akhtamar Church Service Reports
Look at the BBC Nes item that captures so much of the religious aspect
of the church service:
Contrast this with subdued and selective Turkish TV that concentrates on
the outside attendees, showing only a few wooden crosses held up in defiance:
Also, the BBC World Service Newshour dated 19 September 2010 about Akhtamar Mass can be heard on BBC Podcast at
It includes the Pope's visit. Report on Akhtamar can be heard from 13:40 to 23:00 minutes of the report.
First ceremony in Surp Hac after 95 years
VERCIHAN ZIFLIOGLU
VAN - HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sorrow marked the historic ceremony at Surp Hac Church in Van, as the
cross that was set to be placed atop the dome of the church before the
service had not yet been erected.
VERCIHAN ZIFLIOGLU
VAN - HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sorrow marked the historic ceremony at Surp Hac Church in Van, as the
cross that was set to be placed atop the dome of the church before the
service had not yet been erected.
As the dome remained without a cross, the bell tower also remained without
a bell. Bell chimes were broadcast through a sound system around
Akdamar Island where the church stands.
Following a decision to not send spirituals to the service if the
cross was not been erected, the Armenian Apostolic Central Church of
Armenia wanted to erect a cross weighing 100 kilograms late Friday
with the help of four experts from Armenia, leading local officials to
intervene in the situation.
According to local officials the Central Church did not have the
appropriate permission from the Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry
to erect the cross. While the Central Church considers the Turkish
Patriarchate responsible for the erection of the cross, the exclusion
of the Armenian experts from participating increased tensions.
The Turkish Armenian Patriarchate blessed the church Saturday evening
according to the Armenian Apostolic Church, under the auspices of the
Van Governor's Office. The blessing ceremony was held quietly, with
neither local nor foreign press informed.
A meters-long sacred table made by Turkish Armenians from Istanbul bearing
a depiction of the Virgin Mary was placed as the altar. The sacred
table was to be removed from the church after the ceremony and placed
in the Van Museum, to be returned to the church for the next ceremony.
The first service to be held in the Church after 95 years started
Sunday around 11:00 a.m. under the blessing of Archbishop Aram
Atesyan. Around 3,500 people [see later reports] came to the island for the
service, according to official data. The atmosphere was quiet despite security
measures.
measures.
At the opening of the church in 2007 after its restoration, a huge
Turkish flag was hung on the front of the church. This time, however,
the flag was nowhere to be seen.
At the 2007 opening, then Minister of Culture Atila Koc was
present. However no high-level officials attended the 2010 historic
service. The Deputy Gov. of Van, Atay Uslu, Mayor of Van's Gevas
district Nazmi Sezer, and provincial head of Van Museums and Cultural
assets Osman Fırat Süslü were present at Sunday's ceremony and
together they hosted the U.S. Consul to Adana Daria Darnell, Germany's
Ambassador to Ankara Eckart Cuntz, Netherlands ambassador to
Ankara and diplomats from Sweden and France. Murat Akyuz, head of
the German Armenians Chamber of Commerce, also attended the
ceremony.
No crane for cross
The Istanbul choral group Feriköy Surp Vartananzs Armenian Acappella
Chorus sang at the ceremony as visitors were transported to the island
early Sunday morning. Both domestic and foreign media paid intense
attention to the service with more than 200 reporters following the
event.
No crane for cross
The Istanbul choral group Feriköy Surp Vartananzs Armenian Acappella
Chorus sang at the ceremony as visitors were transported to the island
early Sunday morning. Both domestic and foreign media paid intense
attention to the service with more than 200 reporters following the
event.
As the church was not sufficiently large, only high-level participants
were allowed inside while others watched the ceremony on screens
outside.
`The cross was too heavy and we could not bring a crane here,' Sezer
told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review before the ceremony.
`It is diffcult to bring the cross up without a scaffold. It was
obvious that the work to place the cross on the dome would not be
finished before the service,' he said.
Sezer said the base was not appropriate for the cross the Patriarchate
brought as it was made to support the original cross.
Regarding questions as to why the issue of the cross had still not
been solved since 2007, Sezer said Armenia needed to contribute
more to dialogue with Turkey. `Armenia does not respond to Turkey's
positive steps,' Sezer said, adding that if Armenia had accepted
Turkey's conditions and took positive steps for dialogue, the cross
would possibly already have been erected.
positive steps,' Sezer said, adding that if Armenia had accepted
Turkey's conditions and took positive steps for dialogue, the cross
would possibly already have been erected.
>From Diaspora and Armenia
Despite the pressure of tours to Van for the ceremony being canceled,
some groups came from Armenia, the U.S. and Beirut. Verjin
Mermerciyan, who came from California, said it was an emotional
day. Mermerciyan said no one in the local Armenian diaspora wanted to
miss the historic occasion, but there were still perhaps more pressing
concerns facing Turkey and Armenia and Armenian Turks in
particular. `The reality of genocide cannot be rejected, but dialogue
is what is needed now,' she said.
A group calling themselves `Muslim Armenians' also attended the
event. `We could not live in our true identities for generations.
Although my grandfathers turned to Islam to save their lives during
the painful events of their times, they secretly kept their identities
as Armenians,' said Hacı Mehmet Ali, a spokesperson of the group.
The ceremony was led by Domingo Fringo, who came from France
specifically for the event. `Although permission to hold an annual
ceremony has been given for the first time in 95 years, it is a great
deficiency that the cross has not been erected,' he said.
Armenian mass a sign of growing tolerance
By Delphine Strauss in Van
FT
September 19 2010 20:14
Bells rang and the liturgy echoed from inside an Armenian church in
eastern Turkey for the first time in nearly a century at a Sunday
service symbolising Turkish efforts to overcome its troubled history
with ethnic and religious minorities.
The Holy Cross church on Akhtamar island, a rocky outcrop in Lake Van,
is one of the few visible remnants of the Armenian communities that
were settled across eastern Anatolia until the Ottoman-era massacres
and deportations of 1915, in which an estimated 1.5m died. Most
Armenian churches were destroyed.
It is also part of a broader effort by the ruling Justice and
Development party (AKP) to end the ethnic and religious divisions that
have shadowed Turkey since the creation of the modern republic. The
Greek Orthodox monastery at Sumela, near the Black Sea coast, was
permitted one day of worship this summer, and the government has also
taken tentative steps to broaden language and cultural rights for the
large Kurdish minority.
`Turkey is going back to the good side of the Ottoman Empire, said
Baskin Oran, an academic who launched a petition apologising for the
killings of Armenians in 1915. The Kemalist state, created after the
Armenian massacres and population exchange with Greece, assumed
non-Turks would be assimilated and non-Muslims expelled. But `if the
Armenian taboo is broken, the rest will follow suit,' Mr Oran said.
Boats shuttled about 1,000 worshippers, including visitors from
Istanbul, Yerevan, Iran and the US, to Akhtamar on Sunday, where
tearful women lit candles and knelt to pray.
`This land has created a lot of Armenian culture. It means a lot,'
said Hayk, a 26-year-old from Los Angeles. `It's a good first step
[from Turkey] and I'm hopeful there will be more.'
Paul Shahinian, from New Jersey, said the service was a `bittersweet'
reminder of his family roots in Van. `Ethnic hatred runs deep, and it
runs through generations. I think Armenians need to have
reconciliation and move on?.?.?.?but it's impossible,' he said.
Many diaspora organisations called on Armenians to boycott what they
saw as a publicity stunt by a government that denies the 1915
massacres constituted genocide. Ankara says thousands of Turks also
died in the empire's disintegration.
Others cancelled trips at the last moment when the authorities failed
to place a cross on the roof.
Minorities living in Turkey still face prejudice ` including, in the
case of Christian converts, from their own families. The European
Court of Human Rights ruled last week that Turkey had failed to
protect the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink before his murder
in 2007. And the government has still not acted on promises to reopen
the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary in Istanbul.
But many acknowledge that the AKP, whose religious members also faced
pressure in the past from an establishment fearful of radical Islam,
has done more to promote tolerance than any previous government.
`Government action is very slow and timid, but it is happening.
Comparing it with the Kemalist period is like night and day,' said
Cengiz Aktar, an academic at Istanbul's Bahcesehir university.
Although politicians still tread carefully for fear of reprisals by
nationalists, attitudes in Turkey have changed radically in recent
years, with new books, films and seminars opening to discussion issues
once fixed in stone in the school curriculum.
Moreover, many Turks are becoming aware that their own roots are more
mixed than the `Muslim' listed on the identity cards of most would
suggest.
`I came to see because my father was one of them,' said Bahar, a local
woman in her 70s whose Muslim grandparents adopted a 12-year-old
Armenian boy when his family was killed. `I came to see my relations.'
Additional reporting by Funja Guler
By Delphine Strauss in Van
FT
September 19 2010 20:14
Bells rang and the liturgy echoed from inside an Armenian church in
eastern Turkey for the first time in nearly a century at a Sunday
service symbolising Turkish efforts to overcome its troubled history
with ethnic and religious minorities.
The Holy Cross church on Akhtamar island, a rocky outcrop in Lake Van,
is one of the few visible remnants of the Armenian communities that
were settled across eastern Anatolia until the Ottoman-era massacres
and deportations of 1915, in which an estimated 1.5m died. Most
Armenian churches were destroyed.
It is also part of a broader effort by the ruling Justice and
Development party (AKP) to end the ethnic and religious divisions that
have shadowed Turkey since the creation of the modern republic. The
Greek Orthodox monastery at Sumela, near the Black Sea coast, was
permitted one day of worship this summer, and the government has also
taken tentative steps to broaden language and cultural rights for the
large Kurdish minority.
`Turkey is going back to the good side of the Ottoman Empire, said
Baskin Oran, an academic who launched a petition apologising for the
killings of Armenians in 1915. The Kemalist state, created after the
Armenian massacres and population exchange with Greece, assumed
non-Turks would be assimilated and non-Muslims expelled. But `if the
Armenian taboo is broken, the rest will follow suit,' Mr Oran said.
Boats shuttled about 1,000 worshippers, including visitors from
Istanbul, Yerevan, Iran and the US, to Akhtamar on Sunday, where
tearful women lit candles and knelt to pray.
`This land has created a lot of Armenian culture. It means a lot,'
said Hayk, a 26-year-old from Los Angeles. `It's a good first step
[from Turkey] and I'm hopeful there will be more.'
Paul Shahinian, from New Jersey, said the service was a `bittersweet'
reminder of his family roots in Van. `Ethnic hatred runs deep, and it
runs through generations. I think Armenians need to have
reconciliation and move on?.?.?.?but it's impossible,' he said.
Many diaspora organisations called on Armenians to boycott what they
saw as a publicity stunt by a government that denies the 1915
massacres constituted genocide. Ankara says thousands of Turks also
died in the empire's disintegration.
Others cancelled trips at the last moment when the authorities failed
to place a cross on the roof.
Minorities living in Turkey still face prejudice ` including, in the
case of Christian converts, from their own families. The European
Court of Human Rights ruled last week that Turkey had failed to
protect the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink before his murder
in 2007. And the government has still not acted on promises to reopen
the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary in Istanbul.
But many acknowledge that the AKP, whose religious members also faced
pressure in the past from an establishment fearful of radical Islam,
has done more to promote tolerance than any previous government.
`Government action is very slow and timid, but it is happening.
Comparing it with the Kemalist period is like night and day,' said
Cengiz Aktar, an academic at Istanbul's Bahcesehir university.
Although politicians still tread carefully for fear of reprisals by
nationalists, attitudes in Turkey have changed radically in recent
years, with new books, films and seminars opening to discussion issues
once fixed in stone in the school curriculum.
Moreover, many Turks are becoming aware that their own roots are more
mixed than the `Muslim' listed on the identity cards of most would
suggest.
`I came to see because my father was one of them,' said Bahar, a local
woman in her 70s whose Muslim grandparents adopted a 12-year-old
Armenian boy when his family was killed. `I came to see my relations.'
Additional reporting by Funja Guler
Associated Press
Armenian Christians celebrate rare Mass in Turkey
By BURHAN OZBILICI (AP)
19 Sept 10
AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey - Hundreds of Armenian Christian pilgrims took
boats to an ancient island church in eastern Turkey on Sunday for the
first Mass held there since it was abandoned during the mass killings
of Armenians 95 years ago.
In 2007, Turkey restored the 10th century Akdamar church perched on a
rocky island in Lake Van - a vast body of water in eastern Turkey -
and opened it up as a museum. Earlier this year, Turkey's
Islamic-oriented government, which is aiming to expand freedoms as
part of its bid to join the European Union, agreed to allow
once-yearly worship as a gesture to Armenia and its own ethnic
Armenian minority.
"This is a historic event," said Karapet Hajipogosyan, who traveled
from Yerevan, Armenia for the service. "I am reliving our past, I am
remembering what we went through. My feelings are mixed."
Turkey and Armenia are locked in a bitter dispute over the deaths of
Armenians in Turkey. Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million
Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I.
Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll
has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and
unrest.
Efforts to overcome historical animosity and normalize ties between
the neighbors launched last year have been thrown back by the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan is a close Muslim ally of Ankara.
Armenian Christians from Turkey, Armenia and Georgia traveled to the
brown sandstone church for the first liturgy. Many others reportedly
did not travel to protest the fact that a large cast iron cross was
not mounted on top of the church as planned.
Turkish officials postponed installing the cross atop the church until
after a nationwide referendum that was held last week, saying they
wanted to avoid the symbolism attached to the cross being used as
propaganda tool against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling
party. The symbolism could upset some Muslims; and a parallel force,
Turkey's secular establishment, led by the powerful military, might
regard it as a concession to Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
But officials again postponed putting up the cross after the
referendum, citing technical difficulties.
The cross was mounted on a platform outside the church for Sunday's
service, and many pilgrims at Akdamar kissed it or kneeled in front of
it to pray. Some wept.
In 1915, Ottoman authorities evicted Armenians from their homes in
actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of the Armenian
population. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of
the 20th century.
Some pilgrims took part in the service inside the church, which is
decorated with deep blue frescoes showing biblical scenes. Some,
though, have been destroyed and the walls have big, blank patches.
Many others watched the service from a large screen on the church grounds.
"This is a very positive development," said Armen Aroyan, a retired
electrical engineer from Los Angeles, California. "Turkey made a nice
gesture making it available for Armenians to come here."
Akdamar, called the Church of Surp Khach, or the Holy Cross, was
inaugurated in A.D. 921. historical records say the church was near a
harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church
survived.
One of the finest surviving monuments of Armenian culture 1,000 years
ago, the church had deteriorated until its restoration at a cost of
US$1.5 million (euro1.15 million). Rainwater had seeped through the
collapsed, conical dome. Its basalt floors were dug up by
treasure-hunters, and its facade riddled with bullet holes.
Some of Turkey's 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians complain of
harassment in Turkey, which has an overwhelmingly Muslim population.
Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in Istanbul in
2007, was apparently targeted by nationalists for his commentaries on
minority rights and freedom of expression.
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to
this report
By BURHAN OZBILICI (AP)
19 Sept 10
AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey - Hundreds of Armenian Christian pilgrims took
boats to an ancient island church in eastern Turkey on Sunday for the
first Mass held there since it was abandoned during the mass killings
of Armenians 95 years ago.
In 2007, Turkey restored the 10th century Akdamar church perched on a
rocky island in Lake Van - a vast body of water in eastern Turkey -
and opened it up as a museum. Earlier this year, Turkey's
Islamic-oriented government, which is aiming to expand freedoms as
part of its bid to join the European Union, agreed to allow
once-yearly worship as a gesture to Armenia and its own ethnic
Armenian minority.
"This is a historic event," said Karapet Hajipogosyan, who traveled
from Yerevan, Armenia for the service. "I am reliving our past, I am
remembering what we went through. My feelings are mixed."
Turkey and Armenia are locked in a bitter dispute over the deaths of
Armenians in Turkey. Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million
Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I.
Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll
has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and
unrest.
Efforts to overcome historical animosity and normalize ties between
the neighbors launched last year have been thrown back by the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan is a close Muslim ally of Ankara.
Armenian Christians from Turkey, Armenia and Georgia traveled to the
brown sandstone church for the first liturgy. Many others reportedly
did not travel to protest the fact that a large cast iron cross was
not mounted on top of the church as planned.
Turkish officials postponed installing the cross atop the church until
after a nationwide referendum that was held last week, saying they
wanted to avoid the symbolism attached to the cross being used as
propaganda tool against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling
party. The symbolism could upset some Muslims; and a parallel force,
Turkey's secular establishment, led by the powerful military, might
regard it as a concession to Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
But officials again postponed putting up the cross after the
referendum, citing technical difficulties.
The cross was mounted on a platform outside the church for Sunday's
service, and many pilgrims at Akdamar kissed it or kneeled in front of
it to pray. Some wept.
In 1915, Ottoman authorities evicted Armenians from their homes in
actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of the Armenian
population. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of
the 20th century.
Some pilgrims took part in the service inside the church, which is
decorated with deep blue frescoes showing biblical scenes. Some,
though, have been destroyed and the walls have big, blank patches.
Many others watched the service from a large screen on the church grounds.
"This is a very positive development," said Armen Aroyan, a retired
electrical engineer from Los Angeles, California. "Turkey made a nice
gesture making it available for Armenians to come here."
Akdamar, called the Church of Surp Khach, or the Holy Cross, was
inaugurated in A.D. 921. historical records say the church was near a
harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church
survived.
One of the finest surviving monuments of Armenian culture 1,000 years
ago, the church had deteriorated until its restoration at a cost of
US$1.5 million (euro1.15 million). Rainwater had seeped through the
collapsed, conical dome. Its basalt floors were dug up by
treasure-hunters, and its facade riddled with bullet holes.
Some of Turkey's 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians complain of
harassment in Turkey, which has an overwhelmingly Muslim population.
Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in Istanbul in
2007, was apparently targeted by nationalists for his commentaries on
minority rights and freedom of expression.
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to
this report
Tert.am
"Don't Lend Us Our Own Church:" Symbolic liturgy served in Yerevan
13:57 - 19.09.10
Local Armenian movement Miasin (Together), in coordination with the
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, held today a symbolic liturgy at
the hilltop genocide memorial Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.
Held simultaneously with the mass served in Sourb Khach Church (Saint
Cross) in Van, Eastern Turkey, this event organized by the Miasin
movement is meant to be an alternative to the Sourb Khach mass.
The participants went to the eternal fire in Tsitsernakaberd where a
service for the dead was delivered. Then they placed flowers on the
memorial. Many were holding posters that read `Turkey, Be Committed To
Your International Obligations,' `Don't Lend Us Our Own Church.'
`Today we have not gathered here to complain; we are strong. Today we
have come here to show the Turkish and the international community
that we stand up to our [cultural heritage], and that no power can any
longer alienate us from our memory, our cultural heritage and our
history,' Director of the Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan said
in his speech.
Mr Demoyan at the same time mentioned that all the borders currently
demarked around Armenia are conventional.
`Being here today is a symbolic message: we will never tolerate that
our cultural heritage, memory be subject to political speculation,' he
added, representing the symbolism of the day: `Never Forget: Remember
Forever.'
13:57 - 19.09.10
Local Armenian movement Miasin (Together), in coordination with the
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, held today a symbolic liturgy at
the hilltop genocide memorial Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.
Held simultaneously with the mass served in Sourb Khach Church (Saint
Cross) in Van, Eastern Turkey, this event organized by the Miasin
movement is meant to be an alternative to the Sourb Khach mass.
The participants went to the eternal fire in Tsitsernakaberd where a
service for the dead was delivered. Then they placed flowers on the
memorial. Many were holding posters that read `Turkey, Be Committed To
Your International Obligations,' `Don't Lend Us Our Own Church.'
`Today we have not gathered here to complain; we are strong. Today we
have come here to show the Turkish and the international community
that we stand up to our [cultural heritage], and that no power can any
longer alienate us from our memory, our cultural heritage and our
history,' Director of the Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan said
in his speech.
Mr Demoyan at the same time mentioned that all the borders currently
demarked around Armenia are conventional.
`Being here today is a symbolic message: we will never tolerate that
our cultural heritage, memory be subject to political speculation,' he
added, representing the symbolism of the day: `Never Forget: Remember
Forever.'
Tert.am
Sourb Khach mass is over
16:32 - 19.09.10
The long-awaited mass in Sourb Khach Church (Saint Cross) in Van was
over at about 3 p. m. Yerevan time. The liturgy was served by
Archbishop Aram Ateshian, Deputy Patriarch of the Constantinople
Patriarchate of the Armenian Church.
Despite early statements the Turkish authorities backtracked on their
promise and failed to restore the cross on the church before the mass
which drew many Armenians into disappointment and resulted in
cancellation of many previously planned trips to Van.
Consequently, many hotel rooms previously booked in Van remained
vacant with only 750 Istanbul-based Armenians arriving in Akhtamar.
About 300-400 foreign guests attended the liturgy service in Sourb
Khach. They came mainly from US, Canada, Germany and other countries.
Mother See of Holly Etchmiadzin also joined many calls to boycott the
mass and did not attend it.
Earlier it had said it would send two high-ranking representatives to
Van to take part in the liturgy service.
Turkey renovated Sourb Khach in 2007 and opened it as a museum where
no loud prayers or masses are allowed.
16:32 - 19.09.10
The long-awaited mass in Sourb Khach Church (Saint Cross) in Van was
over at about 3 p. m. Yerevan time. The liturgy was served by
Archbishop Aram Ateshian, Deputy Patriarch of the Constantinople
Patriarchate of the Armenian Church.
Despite early statements the Turkish authorities backtracked on their
promise and failed to restore the cross on the church before the mass
which drew many Armenians into disappointment and resulted in
cancellation of many previously planned trips to Van.
Consequently, many hotel rooms previously booked in Van remained
vacant with only 750 Istanbul-based Armenians arriving in Akhtamar.
About 300-400 foreign guests attended the liturgy service in Sourb
Khach. They came mainly from US, Canada, Germany and other countries.
Mother See of Holly Etchmiadzin also joined many calls to boycott the
mass and did not attend it.
Earlier it had said it would send two high-ranking representatives to
Van to take part in the liturgy service.
Turkey renovated Sourb Khach in 2007 and opened it as a museum where
no loud prayers or masses are allowed.
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 19 2010
`Museum is closing: Turkish police banned tourists to visit the museum
Holy Cross Church of Turkish city of Van hosts today after a century
of break a holy liturgy at 11.00 (Turkish time and 13.00 Yerevan
time). The liturgy will be served by proxy of Polis Patriarchate
Archbishop Aram Ateshyan. Panorama.am reporter tells from Van the
local authorities are well prepared to today's ceremony; small
illustrated booklets are spread among the new arrivers in the airport;
the booklets cover the city and its symbols - the cat of Van and the
herring. But the information about the city, its origins and
historical facts are absolutely distorted.
Sept 19 2010
`Museum is closing: Turkish police banned tourists to visit the museum
Holy Cross Church of Turkish city of Van hosts today after a century
of break a holy liturgy at 11.00 (Turkish time and 13.00 Yerevan
time). The liturgy will be served by proxy of Polis Patriarchate
Archbishop Aram Ateshyan. Panorama.am reporter tells from Van the
local authorities are well prepared to today's ceremony; small
illustrated booklets are spread among the new arrivers in the airport;
the booklets cover the city and its symbols - the cat of Van and the
herring. But the information about the city, its origins and
historical facts are absolutely distorted.
The surroundings of the church were full of tourists; most of them
were Armenians from Diaspora - Istanbul, Los Angeles, Paris and other
European cities. Just at the entrance you'll see a message saying
entrance to the museum costs 3 Turkish lira ($2).
The cross over which disputes were recorded is put near the church
door. The Armenians from Diaspora came near to the cross yesterday and
kissed it.
Then the police officers declared everybody should leave the church.
It's worth reminding the Turkish authorities promised to fix the cross
on top of the church but in fact they didn't keep their promise. The
mayor of Van declared the cross will be fixed after a month.
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