BEFORE WORLD WAR I THERE WERE SCORES OF ARMENIAN CHURCHES WITHIN 20 KM OF AKHTAMAR

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.03.2007 18:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Over the past two years, Turkish authorities made
much of the restoration of a 10th century Armenian Church on Akhtamar
island in Lake Van. Until recently, it was not clear whether this
restoration project was a peaceful gesture to Armenians, or a crude
gloss over the reality of the Armenian Genocide and the destruction
of Armenian cultural properties in modern Turkey," says the statement
issued by Komitas Institute, London, UK.

"The head of the Turkish Historical Society, Yusuf Halacoðlu, commented
on the opening of the restored Holy Cross church on Akhtamar Island on
April 15th, 2007. We hope his words do not reflect official thinking
in Ankara.

According to The New Anatolian, Halacoðlu stated that "We [Turks]
don’t have anything to hide… Opening the Agdamar Church will be
a gesture to Armenians and the whole world… After the conquering
of Anatolia, the Turks didn’t damage foreign assets… Nothing was
destroyed. In this way, these assets have survived through to today."

Halacoðlu’s words will surely prove to be an embarrassment to
Turkey. Should the guests invited to the opening of the church on
April 15th decide to look around them, they will see that Akhtamar
Island is an exception.

On the eve of World War I, there were scores of medieval Armenian
churches within 20 km of Akhtamar Island alone, and practically none
of them remain standing today. Most of them have been completely
destroyed during the life of the Turkish Republic.

Today gravediggers enjoy a free hand looting these localities while
Turkish state authorities continue to turn a blind eye to these acts
of desecration.

Halacoglu’s words only add to Turkey’s shame," the statement says.

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