St. Cross without a cross

Yerkir.am
April 01, 2007

ARF’s Nikol Aghbalian Student Union organized an exhibition titled `
Cultural Genocide’ in front of the Yerevan State University. The
exhibition was organized as a response to the opening ceremony of Surb
Khach Church on Akhtamar Island.

`By renovating the Surb Khach Church Turkey is trying to present
itself as a civilized country. However, the Church will not operate as
a church but will be turned into a tourist museum. Turkey wants to
prove to the world that is protecting architectural monuments of
global importance. This exhibition reveals Turkey’s true face. The
Turks have destroyed thousands of monuments,’ Chairman of the Student
Union Vahe Sargsian says.

Nikol Aghbalian Student Union has organized similar exhibitions for
several years and new items are added to these exhibitions every
year. `This means that Turkey is continuing its acts of vandalism and
will continue them as long as it does not change,’ the organizers say
adding that the photos will be exhibited in all large universities.

The visitors of the exhibition received leaflets containing the
following statement: `The opening of Surb Khach Church on Akhtamar
Island in Lake Van is another propaganda measure by the Turkish state
aimed at proving to the world that the Turkish state’s centuries’ old
policy of hatred towards the Armenians has changed. While
acknowledging the opening of Surb Khach Church as progress, as
insufficient as it is, we should state that most of the Armenian
historical and cultural monuments that happened to be located on the
territory of the Turkish state have either been destroyed or are on
the edge of destruction. It is strange that the Surb Khach Church is
reopened without a cross.

Being interesting in gaining political and economic profit, the
Turkish authorities do not spare any efforts to present the opening of
the Armenian church as an act of `good will’ towards the Armenians in
an attempt to hinder the process of the international recognition of
the Armenian Genocide.

Taking into consideration all this, we, the Armenian young people,
call on Turkey to look at the reality through the prism of truth, and
stop the massive destruction of Armenian monuments on the territory of
Western Armenia. We call on Turkey to stop distorting the fact of
these territories’ being Armenian, stop violation of the Armenian
minority’s rights in Turkey, to stop the blockade of Armenia and the
denial of the Armenian Genocide. Only this will make it possible for
Turkey to present itself to the world the way it wants to present
itself now.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress