TURKEY DENIES NEWS STORIES ON YEREVAN-VAN DIRECT FLIGHTS

Today, Azerbaijan
March 14 2007

Turkey on Wednesday denied the news stories that direct flights would
be allowed from Armenian capital Yerevan to eastern Turkish city of
Van for the inauguration ceremony of the Akdamar Armenian Church.

Technical preparations are underway, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
spokesman Levent Bilman said at a weekly press briefing while
commenting on the inauguration of the church, which is on Akdamar
Island on Van Lake.

The Akdamar Church was constructed between 915 AD to 921 AD under
the supervision of King Gagik I and it was renovated by a Turkish
company in 2006.

The Church will be opened on March 29. Among the important pieces
of Armenian architecture, the church draws attraction with its stone
workmanship and reliefs on its walls, the semi-official Anatolia news
agency reported.

Earlier, Van Governor Niyazi Tanilir said that an international
inauguration ceremony would be held, noting that culture ministers
of several countries, members of national and international media
organizations and representatives of Armenian community around the
world are expected to participate in the ceremony.

Turkey and Armenia have no formal diplomatic relations and their
border has been closed since 1993 because of the Armenia’s conflict
with Azerbaijan, a key Turkish ally, over the disputed enclave of
Nagorno Karabakh.

Turkish-Armenia relations in modern times were also strongly affected
by the alleged Armenia genocide during the Turkish Ottoman period
between the Year 1915 and 1923.

Turkey has always denied that the Armenians were subjected to genocide
in the period. However, it does acknowledge that up to 300,000
Armenians, and an even higher number of Muslims, died during fighting
and efforts to relocate populations away from the war zone in eastern
Turkey.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress