Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 3 2009

`Peace Passage’ over Aras River

Monday, August 3, 2009
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU
YEREVAN – Hürriyet Daily News

Armenia is calling on Turkey to help build a ‘peace passage’ over the
Aras River. Former deputy culture minister of Armenia, Gagik
Gürcüyan, talks about the history of the restoration
process for the Surp Haç (Saint Cross) Church on Akdamar island
in the eastern city of Van.

Armenia has called on Turkey to help build a `peace passage’ between
the two countries.

The president of the Armenia International Council of Monuments and
Sites, and former deputy culture minister of Armenia, Gagik
Gürcüyan, has proposed restoring the millennia-old
bridge at the Ani ruins. Located on both sides of the Aras River, with
one end in Turkey and the other in Armenia, his idea was to reopen the
bridge as a peace passage between the two countries.

Gürcüyan, who served as deputy minister from 2004 to
2009, explained the details of the restoration process for the
historic Surp Haç Church on Akdamar Island in Lake Van in the
eastern district of GevaÅ?.

First official contact with Armenia

`Everyone thinks the dialogue process between Turkey and Armenia
started last year during the national football game. This is a big
mistake,’ Gürcüyan told the Hürriyet Daily News &
Economic Review. He said the first official contact between the two
countries started during the restoration process of the Surp
Haç Church by former culture minister Atilla Koç.

`Right after the general elections in Turkey in 2007, Koç was
left out of the new Cabinet. If he remained in the Cabinet, he would
have started the first official contact with his Armenian counterparts
for the restoration of the Ani ruins. It was bad luck,’ he said.

Controversial cross at the Patriarchate

Gürcüyan, who is also an architect, has closely followed
the restoration process of the church. He said the restoration was
flawless, but that the cross was not put on top of the historic church
because the media in both countries had politicized the issue. `The
manner of media made the process tense. The issue was brought into the
political arena. Otherwise the cross would have been put in its former
place.’

Gürcüyan said the cross that was delivered to the
Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan was a true copy of the
original. He said he believed the cross would be put in its original
place in the near future.

Armenian draft in world congresses

The joint restoration work to be carried out for the Ani Ruins could
make great contributions to Turkish`Armenian relations,
Gürcüyan said. `First of all we can restore the ruined
bridge over the Aras River. We can connect the two countries thanks to
this bridge and call it a peace passage,’ he said.

He said UNESCO had come up with the same idea 10 years ago but was not
able to fulfill it. `As the ministry, we sent a letter to Turkey via
the Moscow Embassy saying that we were ready to realize this
project. It was the beginning of the 2000s and the Armenian draft was
highlighted in world congresses. This is why the project was stopped.’

Yerevan and St. Petersburg documents

Russians carried out the most comprehensive work on the Ani Ruins from
1896 to 1918, according to Gürcüyan. He said an Armenian
scientist Toros Toramanyan joined the research and the resulting
documents were collected at the St. Petersburg Royal Academy and in
the Armenian National Archives.

There were hundreds of drawings, documents and information in the
archived documents, Gürcüyan said. `We are ready to
share all types of documents for the restoration of the Ani Ruins to
be finished in the shortest time and in the best way. We want to be a
part of the restoration process,’ he said.