Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia)
March 31, 2007 Saturday
Final Edition
Turkey reopens abandoned medieval Armenian church
Mark Bentley, Bloomberg News
ISTANBUL — Turkey opened a medieval church this week 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 US 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, travelled to Turkey through
Georgia to attend the ceremony.
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.