TOUR OPERATORS GEARING UP TO TAKE ARMENIANS TO TURKEY MASS
Hurriyet
Aug 17 2010
Turkey
Tourism operators serving diaspora Armenians, as well as members of
the community in Armenia and Istanbul, are organizing special tours
for those wishing to attend a special mass in September on Lake Van.
The sole operator to organize a tour to Van in Armenia, Ani Tour,
is planning to take their customers to the eastern province of Van
for the Sept. 19 service at Surp Hac church on Akdamar Island through
Georgia due to the closed borders between Armenia and Turkey.
The company chose to organize the tours after seeing an increase in
demand since early 2010, Ani Tour Assistant Manager Lusine Garabetyan
recently told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
The number of participants had already reached several hundred by July,
he said.
Tour prices start from $395 and are offered as package programs.
Garabetyan said since the land borders are closed it was impossible
for the tour group to reach Turkey without first going through
Georgia. “Therefore, the travel time will take almost a day.”
Istanbul Armenians to attend as well
Armenians from Istanbul will also travel to Van during the week after
Sept. 12 via tours organized by Turkey’s Armenian Patriarchate.
Armenians from Armenia, on the other hand, will set off Sept. 17
from Yerevan.
Armenians going to Van by bus will return following the same route
on Sept. 22, Garabetyan said, adding that applications to join the
tours were increasing every day and that they were experiencing a
surge in demand.
Not all the Armenians hoping to join the service will visit Turkey on
a tour as a small minority will make their own way to Van via Georgia,
with their own car or by bus.
One of the prospective travelers, Levon Astoyan, said he hoped the
mass would be the beginning of a new era for both Armenia and Turkey.
Thanks to permission granted by the Culture and Tourism Ministry,
the event on Akdamar Island will be the first mass at the church in
almost 95 years.
From: A. Papazian