Restoration of Armenian church in Van complete

[Alexandros]

Re: Restoration of Armenian church in Van complete

Akdamar, Sümela to be opened for worship

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Vercihan Ziflioğlu

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Historic Armenian Church to be opened for worship

The Surp Haç Church, also known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross, on Akdamar Island in Lake Van will be opened for worship once a year following the completion of last year's renovations. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said a cross would also be placed atop the church, as it had appeared formerly. The Sümela Monastery in Trabzon will also be opened for prayer once a year. Last year, a group of 500 tourists from Greece, among them Thessaloniki Mayor Panayotis Psomyadis and Russian Deputy Ivan Savidis, wanted to light candles at the monastery but were interrupted by Nilgün Yılmazer, Museum Director of Trabzon. After this incident, Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay said, “We are respectful toward all beliefs,” and introduced the necessary legal changes, the preparations of which are in their final stages. Günay gave exclusive statements to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, which will be featured in Friday’s edition of the newspaper.

Link

[Folk]

Re: Restoration of Armenian church in Van complete

Good news.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Restoration of Armenian church in Van complete

Akdamar, Sümela to be opened for worship

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Vercihan Ziflioğlu

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Historic Armenian Church to be opened for worship

The Surp Haç Church, also known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross, on Akdamar Island in Lake Van will be opened for worship once a year following the completion of last year's renovations. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said a cross would also be placed atop the church, as it had appeared formerly. The Sümela Monastery in Trabzon will also be opened for prayer once a year. Last year, a group of 500 tourists from Greece, among them Thessaloniki Mayor Panayotis Psomyadis and Russian Deputy Ivan Savidis, wanted to light candles at the monastery but were interrupted by Nilgün Yılmazer, Museum Director of Trabzon. After this incident, Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay said, “We are respectful toward all beliefs,” and introduced the necessary legal changes, the preparations of which are in their final stages. Günay gave exclusive statements to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, which will be featured in Friday’s edition of the newspaper.

Link

"Will be opened for worship once a year" means "everything that was once possible is now forbidden except for once a year".
"Restoration" means "destruction".
"Museum" means "devoid of meaning".
"Preserved" means "castrated".
"Tourist" means "sniveling, contemptable, sub-human creature".

[Folk]

Re: Restoration of Armenian church in Van complete

"Will be opened for worship once a year" means "everything that was once possible is now forbidden except for once a year".
"Restoration" means "destruction".
"Museum" means "devoid of meaning".
"Preserved" means "castrated".
"Tourist" means "sniveling, contemptable, sub-human creature".

Oh I didn't see that it'd be opened once a year. I just looked at the headline, didn't read the whole article. Of course it should be opened for the whole year, forever.. People must be able to use them.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Restoration of Armenian church in Van complete

Oh I didn't see that it'd be opened once a year. I just looked at the headline, didn't read the whole article. Of course it should be opened for the whole year, forever.. People must be able to use them.

I think it means it will be open as a museum for all of the year, except for one day a year when some sort of Christian religious service will be allowed to be held. Before it became a "museum", if you wanted to make some sort of religious service you just did it, nobody stopped you.

I don't blame the Turks - they don't have any understanding of why historical monuments should be kept, so in Turkey such monuments can only be kept if they become empty "museums". Anything else is just demolished because it is old and thus useless. I admit that's sounds like a bit of a sweeping statement, but until recently it was a completely true one, and still is true for probably 95% of Turkey's population.
But maybe things could change quickly. As far as an appreciation of the built environment goes, I think Turkey today is like Britain was in the early 1960s: the Britain that, in London, demolished the Euston Arch, wanted to raze Covent Garden to the ground, blitzed Bath better than the Luftwaffe could have dreamed of doing, and, in Edinburgh, wanted to demolish every building in Princes Street and turn it into a two-level pedestrian walkway.

And as far as this particular museum "culture" goes, Turkey is like Britain in the 1980s, where each year, on midsumer day, gangs of policemen would ritually smash their truncheons onto the heads of anyone daring to use Stonehenge for something approaching its original use. At least that horde of Gucci-clad Greeks who, a few months ago, were stopped in their attempt to hold a religious ceremony in Sumela didn't get that sort of treatment from the Turks!