Renovator criticizes ‘politicization’ of Sourb Khach mass
10:03 ¢ 19.09.10
Quarrels over the erection of a cross on the Sourb Khach Church (Saint
Cross) on Van’s Aktamar Island should not detract from Sunday’s
special religious service to be held there, according to Zakaria
Mildanoglu, architect and renovation expert, who participated in the
renovation of the church.
`I have constantly stated that the cross should not be used for
politics. The cross would be placed on the dome after the renovation
but it has been politicized by both sides so much that it ended up
causing disputes,’ he told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Armenian priests from Istanbul and Deputy Patriarch Archbishop Aram
Atesyan will lead the service in the name of the Armenian Patriarchate
of Turkey in the first service at the historical church in 95 years.
However, the service will not be attended by clerics from the Armenian
Apostolic Central Church of Armenia nor the Jerusalem Armenian
Patriarchate, following a strain in relations which developed after
church renovators in 2007 neglected to erect the cross.
With only hours left before the historic service, which Turkey will
only allow once a year, the issue of the cross on the church is still
causing tensions. Following the Central Church’s declaration that it
would not send clerics if there was no cross, tours transferring
hundreds of Armenians to the eastern province of Van were cancelled.
But the cross was handed to the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey on
Tuesday and is now on the island, waiting to be blessed at the service
and placed on the dome 1.5 monthlater as Van’s governor Myunil
Karaloglu said.
Mildanoglu said the Istanbul Patriarchate made some mistakes during
the renovation, adding that legal Armenian Istanbul Patriarch Mesrop
Mutafyan did not want to attend the church when he heard it would open
as a museum.
`The renovations were the first step, it was obvious even in those
days that service in church would be allowed. He did not accept when I
told him we should make preparations,’ Mildanoglu said.
`The [Istanbul] Patriarchate could have made an important mission, it
could have provided steady information sharing with the Jerusalem
Armenian Patriarchate. This type of mediation could have eliminated
misunderstandings and tension,’ he said.
According to Hurriyet Daily News even Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan could have been invited to the service, had everything been
done calmly with the Istanbul Patriarchate presenting its demands to
the Turkish government formally.
`Such an invitation would benefit the dialogue between the two
countries. Also, a representative from the Vatican could have been
invited; Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and the Turkish
President of Religious Affairs could have been invited. Such
approaches would have minimized tension and disputes,’ he said.
MildanoÄ?lu said Turkey took an important step by allowing the service
to go ahead.
`We would have been in danger 20 years ago just by using the term `the
Armenian Problem.’ However, we are discussing everything freely today.
It was forbidden to even mention the existence of Armenians in
Anatolia back then, but today Armenian historical artifacts are being
renovated. We cannot ignore this,’ he said.
A common opinion in Armenia and among the Armenian diaspora is that
Turkey is making political maneuvers, simply renovating churches under
its control to aid its ascension bid to the European Union. Another
prominent opinion is that Turkey is renovating the artifacts to
transform them into tourist destinations.
Mildanoglu said he did not think the latter suggestion was necessarily
a problem, however.
`Thousands of historical churches are open for tourism in Armenia;
they earn income from tourism, too. It is only natural ` it is the
same everywhere in the world. It is not right to politicize everything
so much,’ he said.
Tert.am
From: A. Papazian