By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Published: March 24, 2007
Filed at 3:35 p.m. ETA
AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey (AP) — An ancient Armenian church, perched on
a rocky island in a vast lake, has become a modern symbol of the
divisions and fitful efforts at reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians whose history of bloodshed drives their troubled
relationship.
The Akdamar church, one of the most precious remnants of Armenian
culture 1,000 years ago, deteriorated over the last century, a victim
of neglect after Turks carried out mass killings of Armenians as the
Ottoman Empire crumbled around the time of World War I. Rainwater
seeped through the collapsed, conical dome, treasure-hunters dug up
the basalt floor, and shepherds took potshots with rifles at the
facade.
Next week, the church will showcase Turkey’s tentative steps to
improving ties with its ethnic Armenian minority, as well as
neighboring Armenia. Turkey completed a $1.5 million restoration of
the sandstone building, and invited Armenian officials to a ceremony
there on March 29 to mark what Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, has called a ”positive” message.
An Armenian deputy culture minister and other prominent Armenians plan
to attend the church’s opening near the city of Van in eastern
Turkey. Armenia’s foreign minister welcomed the restoration, but said
Turkey mistakenly believed the project would prove that it was
dedicated to better ties with its neighbor.
”A positive sign and a move on the part of Turkey … would be the
opening of the border with Armenia and establishment of diplomatic
relations,” the news agency Armenpress quoted Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian as saying this week. He said the Armenian delegation could
reach the church by land in just a few hours if the border were open,
but instead will have to fly to Istanbul, and then take another flight
back toward the Armenian border.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of Ankara. The move hurt the
economy of tiny, landlocked Armenia. Turkey also lobbied against a
proposed U.S. congressional resolution that would recognize the
killings of Armenians in the last century as genocide. Some of
Turkey’s 65,000 Armenian Orthdox Christians say they endure harassment
in Turkey, which has an overwhelmingly Muslim population.
Hrant Dink, the ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in Istanbul in
January, was apparently targeted by nationalists for his commentaries
on minority rights and free expression.
Patriarch Mesrob II, the spiritual head of the Armenian Orthodox
community in Turkey, has asked the government to mount a cross on top
of the church, which used to have one, and to allow periodic religious
services there.
The government has yet to respond, but placement of a cross could be
sensitive for Erdogan, who plans to attend the inauguration ceremony,
and his Islamic-rooted government. The symbolism could upset some
Muslims, and Turkey’s powerful military, might regard it as a
concession to Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
”It speaks well of the Turkish government that they paid for it and
took the initiative to make it happen,” said David Phillips, an
advocate of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation who helped gather
international restoration experts and architects for the church
project. But he noted that Turkey views the site as a museum rather
than a place of worship.
”It runs the risk of being viewed as an antiquity, instead of a
living symbol of Armenian culture and spiritual life,” said Phillips,
executive director of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity in New
York.
Relief carvings on the outer walls of the Akdamar church depict Jesus
Christ, barefoot and bearded, holding the book of Gospels; a sea
creature devouring Jonah as he is tossed from a ship; David with a
slingshot facing Goliath.
”Akdamar is an extroverted church,” said Zakarya Mildanoglu, an
ethnic Armenian architect who helped restore it. ”It doesn’t hide its
face.”
Renovators replaced fallen roof stones to prevent more damage to the
interior, restored the floor, strengthened walls and cleaned
frescoes. The church still bears marks of ill treatment, with graffiti
scratched next to some carvings.
Akdamar, called the Church of Surp Khach, or Holy Cross, was
inaugurated in A.D. 921. Written records say the church was near a
harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church
survived.
Many local residents supported the renovation because it could
generate tourism. Some Turks posted critical articles on the
Internet. A leader of an extreme nationalist party said he welcomed
the restoration as long as it is not interpreted as a political
overture.
”We are not guilty of anything,” said Mehmet Sandir, associate
chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party. ”Why should we be making
gestures?”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
