Athens News Agency, Greece
Jan 26 2008

Ararat, ‘Ark’ beckon tourists

Whereas Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’ milestone visit to
Turkey late this week may have dominated much of the "weightier" news
coming out of the closely watched EU candidate country, a distinctly
overlooked press conference — replete with Biblical connotations —
took place last week in a remote and snow-covered far-east corner of
Turkey that nevertheless offered glimpses of modern Turkey’s
unrelenting desire for development and international recognition.

Located on a dry, elevated plain towered over by imposing Mt. Ararat
and Lesser Ararat, the dusty border town of Doðbeyazit played host to
the off-beat press conference, where a disparate panel of Hong Kong
media executives-cum-Christian evangelists, a handful of Turkish
academics and scientists along with officials of the host province
(Aði) enthusiastically unveiled "material evidence" of the existence
of the Biblical Noah’s Ark.

The "evidence", resembling a small bolder of a greyish colour, was
reportedly tested by a Hong Kong lab and deemed to be petrified wood,
according to the two men behind Hong Kong-based Noah Ark Ministries
International, Media Evangelism Ltd. founder Andrew Yuen and HK
documentary maker Yeung Wing-Cheung.

Both men, who joined local mountain guides for a gruelling expedition
atop Mt. Ararat last February, said the object was taken from an
11.5-metre-long chunk of the same material — called a "large wooden
structure" in press releases — which was found in a cave located at
roughly 4,000 metres atop Mt. Ararat. The fabled mountain dominates
the landscape in the rugged triangle where the modern states of
Turkey, Iran and Armenia converge — geographically, but certainly
not politically. A military presence is easily discernable in the
area, as the town hosts a well-equipped army garrison and there are
gendarmerie checkpoints on all roads in the province, although locals
appear more-or-less unfazed by the activity.

Promises to give samples of the "object" to researchers and labs
around the world for independent testing, ahead of another "Noah’s
Ark" summit in Doðbeyazit in August, and access to the cave on the
northwest side of the mount were uttered and repeated, as Yuen
casually informed reporters that at least one piece of the material
found in the cave will be returned to Hong Kong for display in a
future "Noah’s Ark theme park". He quickly clarified that "theme
park" means a cultural and "inspirational" centre on a Hong Kong
waterfront, with construction to come via local government funding
and support by a major land developer in the former British colony.

Asked to calculate the costs for his organisation’s quest to find and
prove that a wooden structure was still somewhere atop Turkey’s
highest peak, Yuen said "several hundreds of thousands of dollars"
since 2004.

For local residents, predominately ethnic Kurds, and central
government-appointed officials, Ararat’s potential as a draw for
"Indiana Jones"-like pilgrims and adventurous tourists wishing to
step-off the "beaten path" appeared incalculable. One of the
leitmotifs stressed by the local and Hong Kong organisers of the
conference was that all three major monotheistic faiths cite the
story of Noah, the Flood and the Ark.

The last time the area attracted international attention it was of a
decidedly negative light, namely, a series of deaths in January 2006
attributed to the H5N1 virus during the height of the "Bird Flu"
scare around the world. The Agri area also witnessed a major Turkish
military operation in late 1994 against Kurdish insurgents, whereas
the mountain and the surrounding lands at one time formed the
medieval "Armenian heartland".

A new three-star hotel in Doðbeyazit is testament to local hopes that
venerated Ararat will again lure travellers to the remote Aði and
Iðir provinces by the thousands. The deep-pocketed Hong Kong Chinese
executives also promised to build a museum in Doðbeyazit, a
pronouncement that was met with applause in the cold auditorium where
the presentation was held.

"(The discovery) supports the thesis of the Ark resting on Ararat,"
was the way the city’s governor, Cemalettin Demircioðu,
diplomatically opened the press conference, with a trio of
out-of-town Turkish professors merely adding their belief that the
Ark rests on Mt. Ararat, "but that more substantiated evidence (of
its existence) is necessary".

Indicative of the type of visitor local officials hope will help end
the isolation of this under-developed and often turbulent part of the
Near East, self-described "Ark researcher" Gerrit Aalten recounts
several stories related to his repeated visits to the area and
friendship with local people.

Asked if he believes there are remains of a wooden ark atop Ararat,
the Dutchman responds, "yes, definitely."

– H. Tzanis

Caption: A view of Ararat Mountain in the background, as pictured on
Tuesday, 18 February 2003 from the Armenian side of the border with
Turkey. ANA-MPA/EPA /ANATOLY MALTSEV

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress