CROSSES ON DOMES OF ARMENIAN CHURCHES AROUSE ANKARA’S FEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2009 20:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The reconstruction of St. Kirakos church of Diarbekir
(historical name: Tigranakert) was not Turkey’s initiative; the idea
was proposed by Istanbul Armenian community with the participation
of Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, primate of AAC Patriarchate in Istanbul,
Turkish studies expert Ruben Melkonyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

A recent fire seriously damaged the building which is in a rather poor
state, he said, adding that "Only walls and pillars remain standing,
so its still early to speak about restoration."

According to some documents discovered from Diarbekir archive,
certain buildings belong to either Armenian communities or churches and
schools, Armenian expert noted. Relevant Legal processes are currently
under way. "As mentioned by one of Diarbekir officials, half of the
town will be recognized as Armenian in case those documents prove
legal," Melkonyan stressed.

At the same time, he didn’t rule out possibility of Turkey’s attempting
to impede the process of church reconstruction since Crosses on domes
of Armenian churches arouse Ankara’s fears. "No church in Western
Armenia has a cross on its dome. That’s Turkey’s state policy,"
Armenian expert said. At that he noted that Turkey’s initiative may
be viewed from two angles: as PR reaction on one hand and distortion
of Armenian architecture on other.

"In almost all their statements, Turkish officials remind that they
are reconstructing Armenian churches," Melkonyan said, adding that
architects do not always obtain the true image of construction as
a result of restoration work. In that regard, he estimated Armenian
architects’ non-involvement as a great disadvantage.