TURKEY OPENS ARMENIAN CHURCH TO HELP EU, U.S. TIES
By Mark Bentley
Bloomberg
March 29 2007
March 29 (Bloomberg) — Turkey today opened a medieval church
abandoned since the slaughter of the country’s Armenian community
almost a century ago, a move that may help smooth relations with the
U.S. and the European Union.
The inauguration ceremony marked the completion of the
Turkish-government funded $1.9 million renovation of the church on
Akdamar island. The project may ease tensions following the January
murder of Hrant Dink, the most prominent member of the Turkish
Armenian community. The assassination by a suspected nationalist
sparked concern in Europe that Turkey wasn’t doing enough to protect
its Armenian minority.
The EU is pushing Turkey to expand religious freedoms for non-Muslims
as the country presses to become the only predominantly Muslim member
of the European Union. Turkey is also fighting against a proposed
resolution in the U.S. recognizing the massacres as a genocide.
"Every step that Turkey takes to look conciliatory and constructive
on the issue of Armenia and others will help the government in the
eyes of Europe’s politicians," said Katinka Barysch, an analyst at the
Centre for European Reform in London. "People in Europe and elsewhere
are concerned that Turkey looks quite hardline."
Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and the border
between the two countries has been shut since 1993. Gagik Guyurjian,
Armenia’s deputy culture minister, traveled to Turkey through Georgia
to attend the ceremony. Guyurjian was hosted by Turkish Tourism
Minister Atilla Koc.
Proposed Pilgrimage
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Patriarch Mesrob II, leader
of Turkey’s 60,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, proposed an annual
pilgrimage to the church, which "perhaps could pave the way for
the longed-for dialogue, in which both sides have been unsuccessful
to date."
Koc spoke of the need for Turkey to "protect the cultural diversity
and assets of the different cultures and civilizations in our lands"
without directly mentioning Armenia or Armenians. He referred to the
church, adorned with Turkish flags and a poster of Turkey’s founder,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as the Van Akdamar Church Memorial Museum. No
Armenian flags were present.
The 300-seat Church of the Holy Cross, located on a small island in
the middle of Lake Van in eastern Turkey, is in many ways a symbol
of the country’s Armenian community.
The church was built between 915 and 921 during the reign of Armenian
King Gagik I of Vaspurakan and was one of the most important religious
buildings in the region. Eastern Anatolia at that time was a heartland
of Armenian culture.
Architectural Inspiration
The church, whose sandstone walls and dome are adorned with carvings of
Jesus Christ and David and Goliath, is considered one of the greatest
examples of Armenian architecture of the period, and an inspiration
for the Gothic style that later developed in Europe, according to
the New York-based Landmarks Foundation, which has advised on the
church’s restoration.
The Armenian community, estimated to be about 1 million, was mostly
driven out of the area or killed during fighting at the time of World
War I.
Turkey says hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in ethnic clashes
during World War I after Armenian groups sided with invading Russian
forces. Armenians say 1.5 million of their brethren were killed in a
planned genocide. Many nationalist Turks say the genocide claim is
a treasonous insult to the country and making the assertion can be
considered a criminal offense in Turkey. Dink received a six-month
suspended jail sentence for challenging the policy of saying the
killings were not a genocide.
`Important Step’
The parliaments of more than 20 countries including France, Greece
and the Netherlands, as well as 39 of 50 U.S. states recognize the
deaths as genocide. The U.S. Congress is currently considering a
similar resolution.
By the end of last century, the church was falling apart due to the
heavy rains and winds that swept across the lake. The church, following
its reopening, will be a museum and there will be no cross on its dome.
The restoration of the church is "an important step for our two
countries," Guyurjian told reporters on the island.
Not all Armenians are pleased with the renovations.
The Istanbul-based Historical Heritage Protection Foundation, which
helped spearhead the church’s renovation "didn’t get five cents" from
representatives of the Armenian community in the U.S. after an appeal
for funding, said Verkin Kasapoglu, a director of the foundation and
a Turkish Armenian who lost relatives in 1915.
"Some Armenians don’t want to see anything good done in Turkey because
of the hatred against Turks," she said in a telephone interview on
March 27. "They see the monument as an enemy, not as an opportunity
to build bridges."
Patriarch’s Refusal
Catholicos Karekin II, the Armenian supreme patriarch, rejected a
Turkish invitation to attend the ceremony because the church will
operate only as a museum, the state-run Armenian News Agency said on
its Web site March 27.
"This action of the Turkish authorities against the pious Christian
beliefs and emotions of the Armenian people cannot be perceived as
a positive step on the path of bringing the two nations closer,"
Karekin said, according to the agency.