Author: Andres-Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

In Van, Turkey 90% of hotel room bookings canceled

September 19, 2010 | 10:41

Van businessmen, who were expecting to earn large sums of cash during
the liturgy in the Armenian Church, Surb Khach on Akhtamar Island,
have suffered significant losses due to a decision by the Turkish
authorities not to place a cross on the dome of the church.

A number of entrepreneurs from Van told NEWS.am that they were
disappointed by the latest developments connected with Surb Khach
Church, in particular, by the authorities’ decision not to mount a
cross before the liturgy, as they have made significant investments
expecting a large number of Armenian visitors.

Regarding hotel bookings, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Van
Zahir Kandashoglu noted that 90% of people who expressed a desire to
visit Van canceled their reservations after they learned about the
decision not to place the cross atop the dome.

From: A. Papazian

Aysor, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

A liturgy and a protest in Tsitsernakaberd

There is a rally of thousands peoples organized against the Turkish
government’s campaign for the Holy Cross Cathedral of Aghtamar island
in Van. The rally is organized in Armenian Genocide Memorial of 1915
in Tsitsernakaberd.

The participants of the demonstration express a complaint against the
“show” initiated by the Turkish government, concentrating the
attention of the international community on the fact that Turkey has
initiated liturgy in the Armenian Church, not allowing the
installation of the cross. According to the participants of the
protest action the Turkish authorities are trying to please the
European countries, showing as if they present a tolerant attitude
towards the national ethnic minorities, but in fact they are trying to
get political dividends.

Akhtamar Holy Cross Church, which was renovated in 2007 and now serves
as a museum, today opens for religious ceremonies, by the initiation
of the Van Governor and Constantinople Patriarchate of Armenian
Apostolic Church. After a long process by the Turkish government’s
permission, there will be held an annual religious ceremony in that
Armenian Church.

Previously the Turkish side claimed that a cross will be installed on
church dome, but it broke its promise, stating that the installation
of the cross `can damage the Church cross’.

Regarding the fact that the promise on cross installation was broken
by the Turkish side, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin which was to
participate in the sacred liturgy with its two representatives has
declined its participation on the liturgy which was to be held in the
Church of the Holy Cross.

From: A. Papazian

Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Sept 19 2010

Turkey church opens to worshippers

Religious services at 10th century Armenian church for one day seen as
symbolic gesture by government.
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2010 08:55 GMT

Approximately 2,000 Armenian Christians are expected to worship at the
church of the Holy Cross, a 10th century Armenian church on Akdamar
Island in Turkey for the first time in 95 years.

The church was closed in 1915 and reopened as a museum in 1997. It is
reopening for religious services for one day as a symbolic gesture by
the Turkish government.

As the small church can only accommodate 50 people, big screens and
loudspeakers have been put outside to facilitate the expected 2,000
worshippers.

Last month, the government also allowed the celebration of mass at the
Sumela Greek Orthodox monastery. Religious services there had been
banned for 88 years.

The historical mass is expected to start at 0800 GMT and finish at
1000 GMT. It will be broadcast live by the Turkish state broadcaster.

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

Hurriyet. Hardly 350-400 will attend the ceremony

Armenian pilgrims who arrived in Van to attend the liturgy of Holy
Cross Church are taken in boats to Akhtamar Island. According to
Turkish `Hurriyet’ a great number of pilgrims are gathered near the
church. It’s reported Armenians from the USA, France and Armenia
arrived in the city.

The majority of the liturgy participants are Armenians of Polis.
According to the sou9rce 750 Armenians from Istanbul have also arrived
in Akhtamar. Thousands of Armenians are left disappointed since
`Hurriyet’ writes the cross isn’t put on the top of the church.

Due to this unfaithful policy the number of Armenians to attend the
liturgy has significantly cut. `It’s supposed that 350-400 people will
hardly attend the ceremony,’ Turkish media writes.

From: A. Papazian

Aysor, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

`No force can separate us from our cultural heritage’

Today, in two different parts of Armenia a liturgy is served, one is
served by the Turkish government to juggle the pearl of the Armenian
architecture Aghtamar Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Church, and the second
is taking place here in Tsitsernakaberd. This is a protest and a
liturgy in the same time,” Hayk Demoyan Director of NAS Genocide
Institute-Museum said about the rally which still is going on at the
Memorial of Armenian Genocide realized in 1915, by the Ottoman Turkey.

At this moment a rally is held near the memorial where also a liturgy
was served. The participants of the rally express their complaint
against the Turkish authorities, for not installing a cross on the
Holy Cross Church dome as well as for using the church as a means of
propaganda.

“Shame, shame,” were shouting the participants and putting flowers
around the eternal fire eternalizing the memory of the innocent
victims.

“It is not randomly that I said in different parts of Armenia, we do
not divide our homeland into parts, it is the problem of the
foreigners, who do not understand why we are protesting and what we
demand. The problem of the foreigner is big, because he does not
imagine that he has international obligations which say that Turkey
must respect the cultural values of Christians which are on his
territory and give it to the people and the community, which it
belongs to. Nevertheless, today Turkey is turning the cultural
heritage into a propaganda tool,” Demoyan said.

According to him, it will never be acceptable for the Armenian people,
and this protest action is an address to both the Turkish public and
the Turkish authorities and the international community at the same
time.

“No force can separate us from our cultural heritage,” Demoyan said,
then added that thus the Armenian people present their demands to the
international community.

From: A. Papazian

Panorama, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

Manoian: Turkey should have handed Holy Cross to Armenian Community;
this is still undone

`Turkish authorities reconstructed the church, turned it into a museum
and allowed a liturgy once a year. We protest their decision since
liturgy should be served every day in an Armenian church,’ Giro
Manoian, the head of ARF Armenian Cause office Armenia told the
reporters attending the rally of Tsitsernakaberd. The majority of the
rally participants were young people who blamed and accused the
Turkish authorities.

Manoian said the Turks made the real image of Holy Cross Church
problem different. They distracted people’s attention from the issue
of handing the Armenian Church to the Armenian community.

Talking about the Turkish media publications, Manoian said Turkish
media is rather objective and impartial to the events and accurately
assessed its Government’s policy.

`If international media once wrote it was expression of good will,
then they understood the issue is in avoiding the implementation of
the international obligations.’

The ARF official stated the treaty of Lozan, 1923 defines the cultural
heritage of the Christian communities should be protected and handed
to the governance, which, factually is undone by Turkey.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

A Turk, from Dersim returns to his roots

September 19, 2010 | 13:37

Turk named Mihran, who lives in Dersim, decided to return to his roots
and become a Christian. Mihran’s ancestors were Armenians, who
converted to Islam and became Turks.

«Today I became a Christian, ethnically I am an Armenian, and I went
back to my roots» said Mihran in an interview with television reporter
«Erkir Media».

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

Liturgy at Surb Khach church begins

September 19, 2010 | 13:18

A liturgy at Surb Khach church has begun on Akhtamar Island in Van,
Turkey. A NEWS.am correspondent reports that many people outside the
church can watch the liturgy on large screens. Only 55 people are
inside the church.

The liturgy is conducted by Archbishop Aram Ateshyan. The ceremony is
expected to last for three days.

Zahir Kandasoglu, Chairman of the Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry
pointed out that 90% of the hotel room bookings were canceled after
people knew the cross would not be installed on the church.

In 2007, when the church was renovated, Turkish flags were flying
round it, and guests could see Ataturk’s portrait. Now, however,
neither Turkish flags nor Ataturk’s portrait can be seen there, the
NEWS.am correspondent report. Numerous policemen and ambulances are on
the island. Military airplanes are flying over the island to ensure
security.

One hundred and eighty-five journalists, with 35 of them foreign ones,
are providing coverage of the event. Journalists from Armenia, the
USA, Germany Holland, Finland and other states arrive in Van.

Only the Constantinople Patriarchate is participating in the liturgy.
The three other patriarchates of the Armenian Apostolic Church refused
to take part in the liturgy, as the Turkish authorities refused to
install a cross on atop the church. Armenian public representatives
also refused to take part in the liturgy for the same reason, though
they received invitations from the Turkish Premier. The public figures
stated that Surb Khach church cannot be considered restored until a
cross has been installed on its dome.

From: A. Papazian

Trend News Agency , Azerbaijan
Sept 19 2010

Iran and Azerbaijan must develop transport infrastructure for the
development of trade between two countries – Azerbaijani Ambassador to
Iran

19.09.2010 14:12
Iran, Tehran, September 19 /Trend, E.Huseynov/

For the development of trade between Iran and Azerbaijan, two
countries must in the first place develop transport infrastructure,
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran Javanshir Akhundov said in Tehran on
Sunday.

Trade turnover between the two countries currently ranges from 500-600
million dollars, which does not suit both sides because they do not
use the full potential, Akhundov said at the Iran-Azerbaijan
conference “Azerbaijan: past experiences and the upcoming prospects.”

The Ambassador said that Iran is proposing to increase trade turnover
to 10 billion dollars, but a lot of work has to be done to achieve
that. First and foremost, you need to develop transport
infrastructure, particularly North-South transport corridor by
building Rasht-Qazvin-Astara railway in Iran.
Zanjan-Ardabil-Miyaneh-Mugan railway construction is also important.
Border areas, which has great potential, also can make a significant
contribution to the development of bilateral trade. The involvement of
Georgia in joint projects and the creation of a unified power grid can
also strengthen the economic potential, Akhundov said.

The Ambassador described bilateral relations as friendly and
fraternal, being at a high level. This is confirmed by the frequency
of visits in recent years and months by senior government delegations
from Iran to Azerbaijan and vice versa.

Akhundov called on the religious leadership of Iran to pay more
attention to the issue of destruction of Muslim monuments, including
mosques in the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. He
reiterated Azerbaijan’s support for Iran’s program to develop peaceful
nuclear energy.

Javanshir Akhundov has expressed regret that the Armenian side
rejected Iran’s initiative to held talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem in Tehran.

One-day conference is being held at Tehran University, organized by
the Caucasus Studies Institute (Iran) and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in
Iran.

From: A. Papazian

Aysor, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

K. Manoyan. “Liturgy should be served 365 days in a year’

The head of the Armenian Cause Office Giro Manoyan who was present on
the rally held in the Genocide Victims Memorial recorded that the
Turkish authorities restoring the church, turned it into a museum,
allowing the liturgy to be served once in a year.

“Our protest is for serving a liturgy on every single day of the year
in the Armenian Church,” he said to journalists.

The participants of the rally, the majority of which are young people
announce words of shame and criticism addressed to the Turkish
authorities.

As Giro Manoyan noted, the Turks turned the Aghtamar’s Holy Cross
Church issue into a ” problem of installing and not installing the
cross’ for the people to lose the main problem of the issue, which is
the international obligation of returning the Armenian Church to the
Armenian community.

Speaking about the publications in foreign press about the ceremony to
be held in the Holy Cross (Surb Khach) Church Manoyan noted that
although Turkey wished to present it as an expression of a goodwill
towards the Armenian people the press is making a rather objective
assessment to the Turkish government’s policy.

“If at first it was presented by the international press as an
expression of a goodwill of Turkish government, later the press
realized that the problem is in avoiding from international
responsibility,” Manoyan stated.

The ARF member said that Lausanne Treaty of in 1923 clearly indicates
that not only should the cultural heritage of the Christian
communities be protected, but it should be handed to the Christians,
which, in fact, has not been kept by Turkey.

From: A. Papazian