EX-RA DEPUTY CULTURE MINISTER PROPOSES RESTORING BRIDGE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.08.2009 20:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The president of the Armenia International Council
of Monuments and Sites, and former Deputy Culture Minister of Armenia,
Gagik Gyurjyan, 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.
The joint restoration work to be carried out for the Ani Ruins could
make great contributions to Turkish-Armenian relations, Gyurjyan
said. "First of all we can restore the ruined bridge over the Araks
River. We can connect the two countries thanks to this bridge and
call it a peace passage," he said, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Currently Ani ruins are being restored as "Ottoman empire’s medieval
architecture monument", carrying no mention of Ani’s once being the
capital of Armenian Kingdom of Bagratides. Moreover, a memorial to
"Turks killed by Armenians in World War I years" is erected at the
entrance to Ani.