Akhtamar- Church of the Holy Cross (Soorp Khach)

[Gavur]

I got there - and I paid my own way.

any pix you can share also how do you rate the restoration after seeing it upclose?

[Joseph]

[QUOTE=bell-the-cat;23008]"Yes - but it is still going to be a succesful one. The targets are not you or me, but politicians (who are seeking excuses rather than facts)"

Probably but it is up to people to raise a red flag and I'm quite enocuraged that their seems to be quite few non-Armenians that see through this event for what it really is. And us being pushy Armenians, we will not shut up about it. Will this change the Turks minds? Probably not but we will not sit dily by. Why should we? No doubt about it, the current US administration (and some of the EU states) will use this as leverage on the behalf of their pro-Turkish agenda.



"It can still be a church and a museum. There is no need to adopt the fundamentalist approach of the Armenian Church who think that historical church monuments are worthless unless they have their priests in them."

A functioning museum and church would be one thing but it seems as thought the Turkish authorities are unwilling to allow it to be used as in church in any capacity. This is wrong.




"The Armenian Church don't own it."

But as much as we loathe Mutafian, it should be transfered to his jurisdication, should it not?




Actually, some other Turkish body "Turkified" the name decades ago.



Maybe the less I say about the cross issue the better!



"I got there - and I paid my own way"

Good for you.

"They were there for about 2.5 hours."

It seems they stayed from the official itinerary. How nice.


"Again true - but, in reality, what would satisfy the Armenian diaspora?"

For once, how about some honesty? Maybe a real gesture of peace or goodwill done for the sake of goodwill and not for a photo-op or propaganda but I'm really beginning to see that genuine people with genuinely good intentions don't exist in Turkey

[Gavur]

Render unto ‘Akdamar’ the things which are Ahtamar’s

Saturday, March 31, 2007




It was a good step to reopen the Ahtamar Church, but it is only a half step. The Armenian community should be allowed to worship and organize services in the church, as Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan has demanded

Mustafa Akyol

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=69636

One of the commonly used quotes from Jesus Christ is his words that put an equal share between the divine and temporal authorities. “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's,” he said according to the New Testament, “and unto God the things that are God's.”

Some political theorists think that this particular phrase in the gospels opened the way for the separation of church and state in the West. The state, which we finance by our taxes and serve us in return with earthly goods and services, can have our material loyalty. But it has neither the power nor the right to interfere in our spiritual beliefs and practices. It should, in other words, simply respect the church, the synagogue or the mosque.

This seems to be quite a fair division. However it is not always observed. Sometimes people who act in the name of this or that religion tries to dominate the state and that's what we call “theocracy.” It is bad, because it leads to tyranny in the name of God, about whom we have very different sets of beliefs.

The trouble with Libido dominandi:

But sometimes tyranny comes from the other side. Sometimes states try to dominate the religious sphere simply because they love to dominate everything. One of the early church fathers, St. Augustine, in his classic, “City of God,” termed this desire as “libido dominandi,” or the “lust for power.”

Unfortunately, unlike the tolerant and grown-up Ottoman Empire, the young Turkish Republic has inhibited a very dense libido dominandi since its beginning. It tried to dominate virtually every sphere in society, which included, of course, religion of all kinds. Islam was completely taken under control and independent Islamic institutions like the Sufi orders were closed down. Some major Christian Churches like that of the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian have been given some limited space with the Treaty of Lausanne, but even that has been shrunk gradually over time.

The ‘Akdamar' story:

Some of the weird things that took place around the re-opening of the Ahtamar Church will be better understood within this context. It is of course a kind and nice move to restore and open the 1000-year old sanctuary, but the steps taken in order to Turkify — and de-churchify — it are absurd. First, it was renamed in Turkish as “Akdamar.” Second, it was opened not as a church but as a “museum.” It was also denied the right to have a cross at the top. In the opening ceremony, giant posters of Atatürk and huge Turkish flags were more visible then any thing else. No wonder some Armenians have felt unhappy about all that.

Why do we feel the need to show our dominance on a little building? How do we have the right to define it as a “museum,” whereas it was built in order to worship God? And what do we gain by all that?

These are questions the Turkish authorities should ask themselves. It was a good step to reopen the Ahtamar Church, but it is only a half step. The Armenian community should be allowed to worship and organize services in the church, as Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan has demanded. Again, as he demanded, the Turkish Foreign Ministry should return the cross of the temple to its original place.

We should understand that Ahtamar is not a government building; it is a sanctuary built to worship God and by people who were living in this land many centuries before the Turkish Republic ever existed. It should be treated as such.

[Gavur]

Renovation of Holy Cross Church does not reflect Ankara’s real attitude

Renovation of Holy Cross Church does not reflect Ankara’s real attitude towards Armenians
30.03.2007 16:37 GMT+04:00

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=21685

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Congresswoman Diane Watson,



a leading member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today warned her colleagues not to be misled by the Turkish government's token efforts to use the renovation of a single Armenian Church to obscure its longstanding policy of destroying Armenian cultural heritage and denying the Armenian Genocide. Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Aram Hamparian thanked Congresswoman Watson, noting that it is clearly not an act of tolerance for Turkish leaders to turn an ancient and sacred church, with profound religious meaning for Armenians worldwide, into a secular museum, upon which a cross is forbidden and within which prayer is prohibited. In her letter to congressmen Watson says, “Turkish government is holding an event to tout the rehabilitation of an Armenian Church. Unfortunately, this event obscures the reality that hundreds of Christian Armenian Churches in Turkey, some dating as far back as the 4th century, have been neglected and even egregiously abused”. “Armenia, which was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 A.D., has a remarkably rich history of ancient churches and Christian artifacts. Sadly, the Turkish government - which still, against all evidence, denies the Armenian Genocide - continues to actively pursue the eradication of Armenian ancient monuments. It is a desperate and malicious campaign, which began in 1915, to erase the Armenian people's physical and cultural existence in their historic homeland, “Diane Watson says in her letter.

[Joseph]

Assyrian International News Agency

Church Reopening In Turkey Does Little To Reassure Armenians
Posted GMT 3-31-2007 23:50:31

http://www.aina.org/news/20070331185031.htm

Turkey's designation of a newly restored Armenian church as a museum has prompted debate in Armenia, with many observers characterizing the 10th century church's reopening as an empty PR gesture.

The Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Church on Akhtamar Island in eastern Turkey's Lake Van is the first Armenian church on Turkish territory that the Turkish government has restored. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Many Armenians welcomed the two-year $1.9 million project, which preserved one of the most outstanding examples of medieval Armenian architecture. Others, however, have qualified Turkey's decision not to place a cross atop the church, and to maintain the church as a museum, as an insult to Armenia's Christian heritage.

"It's a slap in the face for us to have our church hung with Turkish flags, and, even more, with [first Turkish President Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk's portrait," Hayk Demoyan, director of the National Academy of Sciences' Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, said about the March 29 reopening ceremony. "The restoration of the church is purely a political calculation by Turkey. It is obvious Turkey clearly aims at changing international public opinion in its favor." [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A governmental delegation from Armenia took part in the reopening ceremony, but ecclesiastical leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church declined an invitation, protesting the decision to turn the church into a museum. "The reconstruction is a positive fact, but turning the church into a museum is an act targeted against the pious Christian feelings of the Armenian nation by Turkey's authorities, and can't be perceived as a positive step toward the rapprochement of the Armenian and Turkish people," said Father Vahram, spokesperson for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Atilla Koç has stated that the absence of a cross from the church may be only temporary. "If it is proven that there was a cross atop of its dome, then the reconstructed [church] will also have a cross," the Turkish Daily News website reported Koç as saying. Reconstruction project coordinator Cahid Zeydanlini has said that a cross was not put on top of the church for fear of attracting a lightning strike, according to the website.

Koç earlier said that the Turkish government intends to restore eight mosques and eight Armenian churches in the vicinity of Kars, which was once the center of an ancient Armenian kingdom.

But the statements so far have done little to reassure Armenians. Officials in Yerevan have backed away from publicly presenting the church's reconstruction as a positive step in Armenian-Turkish relations. Foreign Affairs Minister Vartan Oskanian said that a positive move would be the reopening of the border between the two states, closed since 1993 in response to Armenia's support for the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, territory claimed by Turkish ally Azerbaijan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"The opening of the monument remains a separate fact and can't facilitate the improvement of the situation in the larger sense, contrary to their [Turkey's] attempts to represent it in that light," the foreign minister said at a recent press conference in Yerevan.

The fact that Armenia's government delegation had to travel 16 hours via Georgia to reach Van illustrates the "absurdity" of Turkish policy, he added. With an open border, the delegation could have made the trip in four hours from Yerevan.

Meanwhile, on the day of the church's reopening, a large-scale photo exhibition on Armenian churches that have been destroyed or turned into mosques in Turkey and Azerbaijan opened in Yerevan's State University.

Despite officials' harsh assessments, Samvel Karapetian, head of the non-governmental organization Research on Armenian Architecture said he was happy to see the church saved from decay. According to Karapetian, the church's reconstruction was done with a high degree of professionalism and in accordance with European standards. The church's popularity with tourists, a key income source for Turkey, was probably a motivating factor in the Turkish government's decision to undertake the restoration project, he added.

Manuel, a bishop and one of the most talented Armenian architects of his time, built the church in 915-921 A.D. at the order of Armenian King Gagik Artsruni. The exterior church is decorated with bas-reliefs made up of six friezes that depict stories from the Old and New Testaments, and also include pictures from secular life and rich floral and animal ornamentation.

Other Armenian churches on Turkish territory are in need of similar restoration, Karapetian said. "Unfortunately, preservation is not a usual practice in Turkey," said Karapetian. "Nothing has been left of [the monastery] Narekavank that was some five kilometers from Surb Khach, while some of the churches on the neighboring islands have been blown up."

A 1913 report by the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople stated that there were nearly 2,500 churches on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Today, 2,000 are believed to have survived, many often half-ruined, or turned into mosques, storehouses and cattle sheds.

By Gayane Abrahamyan

https://www.eurasianet.org

Gayane Abrahamyan is a reporter for the English-language weekly Armenia Now in Yerevan.

[Joseph]

Armenian Government Press Release

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
----------------------------------------------
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

https://www.armeniaforeignministry.am

*
PRESS RELEASE
*
28-03-2007
Comments by Vladimir Karapetian, Ministry Acting Spokesperson on renovation of the Church of Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island in Van
We are pleased that the Armenian Church of Holy Cross on Akhtamar island, a jewel of world architecture, has been beautifully restored and renovated, albeit without a cross, and as a museum.
*
This is a positive move and holds the potential of a reversal of the policy of negligence and destruction.
*
We hope the same kind approach will extend to cover the nearly-collapsed churches of Ani, Mush, Tegor, and a dozen other priceless examples of Armenian medieval architecture, which have been abandoned at best, or more often, intentionally vandalized, simply because of their Armenian identity.
*
Unfortunately, this opening was not transformed to a new opportunity in Armenia- Turkish relations, because the Turkish government has not found it expedient to do so. Instead, it will remain a formal ceremony, in which a small official delegation will participate.
*
The border was not opened, even for one day, to allow our peoples to share this singular, historic event together. Instead, those from Armenia wishing to attend will be forced to travel, through a third country, two days to get there and back. This could have been a four-hour car ride across the border enjoyed by many.
*
Turkey’s announcements about the opening of this renovated church do not include the word ‘Armenian’ anywhere. Names of kings and regions from medieval times are evoked, but no mention is made of its Armenian and Apostolic belonging.* This is an evasion of the Turkish government’s responsibility not only to history and memory, but to its own Armenian minority.
*
Ironically, at the same time, many are heralding this renovation as a step forward in Armenia-Turkey relations. This is because the Turkish authorities need to demonstrate something positive in that direction. It is no coincidence that this opening is being held just as the US Congress is considering a resolution on affirming the US record on the Armenian Genocide.
*
Even before the opening, pictures of the renovated church are being distributed in Washington as a sign of goodwill from Turks towards Armenians, and therefore obviating the need for third country pressure on Turkey.
*
Armenia and Armenians wish for substantive progress with Turkey regarding our painful past and a potential of a shared future as neighbors. Armenia and Armenians do not want to be played in a never-ending process of gestures that do not intend to make real inroads in reconciliation, and instead are simply public relations moves.
*
Armenia asks that the international community encourage Turkey to engage in a substantive process toward open borders and normal relations and not be satisfied with isolated symbols and gestures.

[Joseph]

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=69772

Let's hope Akhtamar is a new beginning

Tuesday, April 3, 2007




92 years later, a Turkish government had taken a step to rekindle the memory of the greatest disaster Anatolia suffered in its recent past. It was a matter of courage to take such a risk when elections neared and nationalism is exuding all around

CENG?Z AKTAR
In the 1970s, when I used to work as a tourist guide for summer jobs, one of the most interesting monuments I came to know in the east of Turkey was the Church of Akhtamar. One would take a jerry-built raft off a pier, itself jerry-built, to cross to the islet where this magnificent church, used as shooting target by local roughnecks, stood in isolation. This unique monument which was an ancient patriarchate and one of the most sacred places of the Armenian world reopened as a museum last week with a ceremony. In this way, the temple that belongs to world's cultural heritage was saved from further destruction. The second important point is that, 92 years later, a Turkish government had taken a step to rekindle the memory of the greatest disaster Anatolia suffered in its recent past. The undisguisable truth that Armenians lived in those lands, and the massacres of Armenians erased from the public memory was inevitably brought to the agenda with this inauguration. It was a matter of courage to take such a risk when elections neared and nationalism is exuding all around.



Some members of the Diaspora were saddened:

The renovation had no influence outside regarding hot issues such as tolerance and interreligious dialogue, as assumed before and claimed afterwards. Haughty headlines such as ?Akdamar lesson? hit the national news headlines, while foreign press sufficed by admitting the encouraging side of the deed done. However, it did not fail, on the occasion, to qualify the 1915 massacres as genocide. Incidentally, the shortest cut to find echo in the outside world remains the opening of the border with Armenia. Therefore, it is more significant and important to appraise the initiative as intended more for home use. In fact, if one day the Armenian problem and the Armenian-Turkish relations were to reach a satisfactory course, this will originate, not from the Europe or the United States but from Turkey and Armenia. As a matter of fact, some members of the Diaspora were saddened by the fact that the church was renovated! If the rediscovery of the cultural memory as well as bringing the Armenian fact to the agenda are the positive side of the matter, there has been sheer clumsiness before and during the ceremony that cast shadow on the foregoing positive aspects. Firstly, the issue of naming the church. It is quite common in Anatolia to derive new city names by kicking off with the similarity of sounds, which may be comprehensible though meaningless. The most striking examples may be the following: Bodrum is derived from the Latin word Petronium but the town has nothing to do with a ?basement?. Denizli, which has never had a sea front was invented from Diopolis Rhoas evolving through Donguzlu, Donuzlu, Tonguzluk, Dengizli and eventually to Denizli. Bal?kesir which has neither any renowned fish nor slave was also derived from the Greek appellation of Palaio Kastro. Makrohori, which meant the farther away village once, later turned to be the Greco-Turkish hybrid word Makri-köy and was finally made Bak?rköy. But there was never any copperfield. The same logic applies in the case of ?Akhtamar? which is converted to ?Akdamar? meaning white vein and the ?Ani? ruins in the province of Kars, now called ?An??, meaning memory. However, these names were changed after 1980. In the 70s, local folks did not utter words like ?akdamar? or ?an??. This obsession to convert everything to Turkish is a sign of anguish.



Two thousand Akhtamars:

Likewise, other examples of clumsiness were the omission of cross even though the international restauration rules require faithfulness to the original; no religious ceremony was performed though Armenian clerics were invited from all over the world; the word ?Armenian? was not pronounced even once in the official speeches and no translation service was provided for the Armenian delegation.... And the most hilarious, as always, was the protests of some local trade-unionists who instead of minding their own business came there to ?save the country?. All in all, the government felt anxious, uneasy. It used various metaphors, neologisms and furtive expressions to name the ?Armenian?. It used multitudes of nationalist symbols to counterbalance the event. But at the end of the day it nonetheless made as if it broke a taboo. Although security forces could not be persuaded to reopen the border for once, the Armenian delegation entered Turkey through Georgia and arrived at an Armenian monument, Akhtamar, in eastern Turkey and attended the ceremony together with the Armenians of Turkey. Of more than 2,500 religious buildings existing on the Ottoman territory in 1913, according to the data of Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, 2,000 are still standing today, though in ruins. While not all of them can be renovated like Akhtamar, most of them can be reclaimed through archeological and cultural works to be carried out jointly with Armenia. As a result, joint historical studies that could not be performed so far can somehow be initiated. Are we for it?

[Joseph]

http://www.azg.am/?lang=EN&num=2007040402

TURKEY UNDERMINES ITS OWN PROPAGANDA BY DESECRATING ARMENIAN CHURCH

The Turkish government finally carried out last week its much touted but ultimately failed public relations effort for the reopening of the Holy Cross Church on Akhtamar Island . It was a textbook case of how not to carry out a propaganda campaign.

By orchestrating such a high profile show, Ankara intended to impress the international community by trying to make the point that while Armenians are accusing the Turks of having committed genocide against them, the Turkish government was so magnanimous and gracious as to spend $1.5 million of its own money to renovate an ancient Armenian Church.

Due to sheer incompetence and no small degree of malice, Ankara botched just about every aspect of this ceremony. Here is a short list of the many missteps of the Turkish authorities which undermined their own objectives and interests:

1) Changed the date of the opening ceremonies 3 or 4 times, thus making it obvious to the world that Turkey was trying to find the most politically opportunistic time to score the maximum possible propaganda effect.

2) The Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles sent a large number of invitations to Armenians less than two weeks before the "Akdamar" (sic) ceremony. This mailing list was recently acquired from a "moderate" Armenian and the invitations were sent out in cheap brown envelopes, similar to the paper bags used by grocery stores.

3) Leaked to the Turkish media a fake list of the names of Diaspora Armenians who were supposedly attending the reopening ceremony, while in reality, not a single one of them was at Akhtamar.

4) Labeling the Armenians that were invited by Ankara to Akhtamar as "moderates," served to undermine their credibility and standing in the Armenian community.

5) Forced the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople to attend the ceremony without allowing him to say even a prayer.

6) Invited Armenian Church leaders to the reopening of a sacred Armenian Church, and then told them that it would be a museum and not a church, and that there would be no religious ceremony, no cross on the Church’s dome and no affiliation with the Armenian Patriarchate. No wonder not a single Armenian Church leader showed up at the ceremony either from Armenia or the Diaspora, except for the Patriarch.

7) Invited high ranking Armenian government officials and then not allowed them to cross the border, thus forcing them to drive 15 hours to get to Lake Van via Georgia, rather than the 4 hours needed directly from Armenia.

8) Invited to the ceremony Israeli and American diplomats whose governments have refused to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide

9) Rejected the offer from a world famous Armenian-American pianist Shahan Arzruni, formerly of Istanbul, to perform at the opening ceremony on Akhtamar Island . Instead, they arranged for a Turkish pianist who played Turkish, Jewish and Armenian music.

10) Hoisted huge Turkish flags all over Akhtamar Island , including a large one on the church wall itself along with a massive banner of Ataturk.

11) When a couple of pious Armenian visitors lit candles inside the church, Turkish security agents quickly put out all the candles and confiscated them.

12) When Atilla Koc, the Minister of Culture of Turkey, was asked if mass could be held at the renovated Church once a year, he responded by saying that he is waiting for a decision from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thus making it perfectly clear that the whole ceremony was a big political charade.

If Turkey wanted to impress international public opinion and win over Armenians everywhere, it should have done the exact opposite of what it actually did. As an Armenian Church leader recently told this writer, if the Turks truly desired to befriend the Armenians, they should have placed crosses all over the Holy Cross Church, instead of Turkish flags and posters of Ataturk. Rather than impressing Armenians, Turkey actually ended up insulting them by desecrating their historic Armenian Church!

Cengiz Candar, in his commentary published in the Turkish Daily News, had very harsh words for the Turkish authorities. He described their actions at Akhtamar as a "disgrace" and even "cultural genocide."

One can always count on Turkish officials to undermine their own state interests. That is why they are often referred to as "the gang that cannot shoot straight!"

By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier

[1.5 million]

Harut has it right! Bravo! Stupid Turks (sorry what can I say?)

[Joseph]

Harut has it right! Bravo! Stupid Turks (sorry what can I say?)

Harut is right but I have to say that Cenghiz Candar hit the nail on the head in his editorials that I posted earlier in this thread. Even many Turks (those that are not nationalists anyway) see through the whole guise.

I was afraid that the whole rouse by Turkey would work but I see it is actually starting to backfire. It is a snowball effect.