The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will not participate in the opening of
the Akhtamar Church
ArmRadio.am
27.03.2007 11:26
Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Catholicos of All
Armenians Garegin II received an invitation from the Governor of Van
Mehmet Niyaz Tanilir to participate in the opening ceremony of the
Church of the Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island on March 29.
Taking into consideration that the Church of the Holy Cross renovated
by the Turkish authorities will be turned into a museum and will not
operate as a church under the aegis of the Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople, and the opening ceremony will be held as a secular
procedure and not in compliance with the ritual of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will not
participate in the opening ceremony.
This action of the Turkish authorities directed against the Christian
feelings of the Armenian people cannot be conceived as a positive step
on the way of rapprochement between the Armenian and Turkish peoples,
especially in the context of the common aspiration for a dialogue
between cultures and religions.