TURKEY RESTORES ARMENIAN CHURCH AS GOODWILL GESTURE

PRESS TV, Iran
March 29 2007

Ankara has held a ceremony in eastern Turkey to mark the restoration
of an Armenian church, in a move to improve ties with its neighbor
Armenia and its own Armenian minority.

Among those in attendance at the opening of the Akdamar church on
an island in Lake Van were Patriarch Mesrob II, head of the Armenian
Orthodox minority in Turkey, Armenian Deputy Culture Minister Gagik
Gyurjyan and Turkish Culture Minister Atilla Koc.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mesrob said he hoped that the
Armenians could use the site as a place of prayer during a once-a-year
festival.

Despite having no diplomatic ties with Armenia, Turkish officials
decided to invite Armenian government ministers to the opening as a
goodwill gesture.

Restoration of the 1,000-year-old church, which will now open as a
museum, took two years.