LAKE VAN DYING

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.05.2008 12:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Lake Van, the fifth largest lake in Europe, is
dying. Unless urgent measures are taken, the lake will dry up within
the next 10-15 years.

The Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association (TURMEPA)
has included Lake Van in its project ‘Limitless Blue’ that has been
carried out for two years to save coastlines.

As it works to protect a coastline of 8,333 kilometer from Hopa to
Iskenderun, TURMEPA plans to save Lake Van as well. The association
has organized an event to clean the shores of the lake.

Esref Cerrahoglu, TURMEPA executive board chairman, said, "According
to reports of experts, pearl mullets will die out in 10-15 years. Lake
Van will become a source of pollution and will not be suitable to
swim in. Taking some urgent measures could save the lake, which is
an example of very significant historic and ecological richness of
the region. This is why we are also working for Lake Van as well as
our coastlines."

As part of a project titled "Limitless Blue," for two years TURMEPA has
been giving courses on the protection of the seas to primary school
students living on the coastlines. There were 105,000 students from
Van who participated in one of the courses last week, the Turkish
Daily News reports.

Situated in historical Armenia, Lake Van is Europe’s fifth largest
lake. The city of Van located on the eastern shore of Lake Van
was the capital of the Urartian kingdom in the 9th century BC. Its
ancient inhabitants called themselves Nairi and the city was a major
Armenian center.

Despite courageous resistance, the city’s Armenian population was
devastated during World War I by Ottoman troops as a part of the
Armenian Genocide.

Holy Cross church situated on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van was
reconstructed not long ago and transformed into museum. There is no
cross on the top but a Turkish flag and a portrait of modern Turkey’s
founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk are stuck at the entrance.