International Herald Tribune, France
March 23 2007
Turkey restores Armenian church to show goodwill
The Associated PressPublished: March 23, 2007
AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey: An ancient Armenian church, perched on a
rocky island in a vast lake, has become a modern symbol of the
divisions and fitful efforts at reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians whose history of bloodshed drives their troubled
relationship.
The Akdamar church, one of the most precious remnants of Armenian
culture 1,000 years ago, deteriorated over the last century, a victim
of neglect after Turks carried out mass killings of Armenians as the
Ottoman Empire crumbled around the time of World War I. Rainwater
seeped through the collapsed, conical dome, treasure-hunters dug up
the basalt floor, and shepherds took potshots with rifles at the
facade.
Next week, the church will showcase Turkey’s tentative steps to
improve ties with its ethnic Armenian minority, as well as
neighboring Armenia. Turkey completed a US$1.5 million restoration of
the sandstone building, and invited Armenian officials to a ceremony
there on March 29 to mark what Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, has called a "positive" message.
An Armenian deputy culture minister and other prominent Armenians
plan to go. Armenia’s foreign minister welcomed the restoration, but
said Turkey mistakenly believed the project would prove that it was
dedicated to better ties with its neighbor.
"A positive sign and a move on the part of Turkey … would be the
opening of the border with Armenia and establishment of diplomatic
relations," the news agency Armenpress quoted Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian as saying this week. He said the Armenian delegation could
reach the church near the city of Van in eastern Turkey by land in a
few hours if the border were open, but instead will have to fly to
Istanbul, and then take another flight back toward the Armenian
border.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of Ankara. The move hurt the
economy of tiny, landlocked Armenia. Also, Turkey lobbied against a
proposed resolution in the U.S. Congress that would recognize the
killings of Armenians in the last century as genocide. Some of
Turkey’s 65,000 Armenian Orthdox Christians say they endure
harassment in Turkey, whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim.
Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in Istanbul in
January, was apparently targeted by nationalists who detested his
commentaries on minority rights and free expression.
Patriarch Mesrob II, the spiritual head of the Armenian Orthodox
community in Turkey, has asked the government to mount a cross on top
of the church, which used to have one, and to allow religious
services to be held there on occasion.
The government has yet to respond, but placement of a cross could be
sensitive for the Islamic-rooted government of Erdogan, who plans to
attend the inauguration ceremony. 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.
"It speaks well of the Turkish government that they paid for it and
took the initiative to make it happen," said David Phillips, an
advocate of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation who helped gather
international restoration experts and architects for the church
project. But he noted that Turkey views the site as a museum rather
than a place of worship.
"It runs the risk of being viewed as an antiquity, instead of a
living symbol of Armenian culture and spiritual life," said Phillips,
executive director of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, in New
York City.
The European Union urged Turkey in 2004 to consider registering
Akdamar in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The EU has also urged
Turkey, a candidate for membership, to improve treatment of
minorities.
Relief carvings on the outer walls of the Akdamar church depict Jesus
Christ, barefoot and bearded, holding the book of Gospels; a sea
creature devouring Jonah as he is tossed from a ship; Abraham
grabbing his son Isaac’s hair and holding a knife as he prepares to
sacrifice him; David with a slingshot facing the giant warrior,
Goliath; and Adam and Eve, holding the forbidden fruit.
"Akdamar is an extroverted church," said Zakarya Mildanoglu, an
ethnic Armenian architect who helped restore it. "It doesn’t hide its
face."
Reliefs also show the church’s builder, Armenian King Gagik I, in an
ornate robe and crown, vines and grapes, eagles, bears, a peacock,
cockerels, a man killing a lion, and a lion pouncing on a deer.
Inside the church, deep blue frescoes show biblical scenes, though
many have been destroyed and the walls have big, blank patches.
"Both the frescoes and relief sculpture appropriate Byzantine and
Islamic visual traditions; the Abbasid caliphate was of course very
strong by this time, and Byzantine art was understood as a visual
language of prestige and power," Christina Maranci, an expert on
medieval Armenian architecture at the University of Wisconsin in
Milwaukee, wrote in an email. The church "presents a very interesting
use of both," Maranci wrote.
Renovators replaced fallen roof stones to prevent more damage to the
interior, restored the floor, strengthened walls and cleaned
frescoes. The church still bears marks of ill treatment, with
graffiti scratched next to some carvings.
Akdamar, called the Church of Surp Khach, or Holy Cross, was
inaugurated in A.D. 921. Written records say the church was near a
harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church
survived.
Many local residents supported the renovation because it could
generate tourism. Some Turks posted critical articles on the
Internet. A leader of an extreme nationalist party said he welcomed
the restoration as long as it is not interpreted as a political
overture.
"We are not guilty of anything," said Mehmet Sandir, associate
chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party. "Why should we be making
gestures?"