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Hürriyet, Turkey
March 2 2007
PM Erdogan to oversee re-opening of restored Armenian church on Van
Lake
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in what many are viewing as a
surprise response to Armenian diaspora efforts to get the so-called
Armenian genocide bill accepted in the US Congress, has announced
plans to personally open up the Armenian Sacred Cross Church on Van
Lake's Akdaman Island.
The church, which has been carefully restored in a Ministry of
Culture and Tourism project, will be re-opened on March 29, a date
which some speculate has been chosen to proceed the April date when
the Armenian bill is to be debated in the US Congress. Erdogan is
reportedly planning to attend the opening ceremony for the Sacred
Cross Church with a crowded delegation of ruling AKP cabinet and MP
members. High ranking members of the Armenian diaspora are reportedly
also to be invited to the opening, including Armenia's own Minister
of Culture and Tourism, Hasmik Poghosyan.
Meanwhile, debate as to whether or not a cross is to be put on the
top of the Sacred Cross Church's steeple rages on. Atilla Koc, the
Minister of Culture and Tourism, has noted "If it turns out the
original had one, then this one will too." The church, which sits on
the Akdaman Island in Van Lake, was originally built by Vaspurakan
King Gagik I between the years of 915-921 AD.
March 2 2007
PM Erdogan to oversee re-opening of restored Armenian church on Van
Lake
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in what many are viewing as a
surprise response to Armenian diaspora efforts to get the so-called
Armenian genocide bill accepted in the US Congress, has announced
plans to personally open up the Armenian Sacred Cross Church on Van
Lake's Akdaman Island.
The church, which has been carefully restored in a Ministry of
Culture and Tourism project, will be re-opened on March 29, a date
which some speculate has been chosen to proceed the April date when
the Armenian bill is to be debated in the US Congress. Erdogan is
reportedly planning to attend the opening ceremony for the Sacred
Cross Church with a crowded delegation of ruling AKP cabinet and MP
members. High ranking members of the Armenian diaspora are reportedly
also to be invited to the opening, including Armenia's own Minister
of Culture and Tourism, Hasmik Poghosyan.
Meanwhile, debate as to whether or not a cross is to be put on the
top of the Sacred Cross Church's steeple rages on. Atilla Koc, the
Minister of Culture and Tourism, has noted "If it turns out the
original had one, then this one will too." The church, which sits on
the Akdaman Island in Van Lake, was originally built by Vaspurakan
King Gagik I between the years of 915-921 AD.