PACE rapporteur welcomes opening of restored Armenian Church in Turkey
Strasbourg, 21.03.2007 – Eddie O’Hara (United Kingdom, SOC), rapporteur
on the cultural heritage in the South Caucasus for the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has welcomed the announcement
of the opening on 29 March of the Armenian Akhtamar Church on Lake Van
in Turkey, following extensive restoration funded by the Turkish
Ministry of Culture.
"The involvement of the Turkish Government, the Armenian Church
authorities, experts from Turkish and international universities and
local contractors is an outstanding example of how co-operation can help
save the rich cultural heritage of this region," said Mr O’Hara. "It now
remains to work on access to the site, on its landscape surroundings and
on the uses to which the restored site as a whole can be put."
Mr O’Hara is due to make a study visit to Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia to find ways of taking cultural heritage out of the conflict and
to identify common strategies for its protection. "The Akhmatar Church
restoration shows precisely what we should hope to achieve throughout
the region", said Mr O’Hara. "We hope the Armenian authorities will be
able to participate in the opening."
Link to Assembly Recommendation 1599 (2003)
cuments/adoptedtext/ta03/erec1599.htm
ED043a07