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Gulf Times, Qatar
Sept 10 2012
Armenians flock to Sunday mass at ancient church
AFP/Istanbul
Around 2,000 Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora flocked yesterday
to a recently restored ancient church on a tiny island in the east of
the country for an annual mass.
Boats provided a shuttle service for pilgrims from all over Turkey,
and some from Armenia and elsewhere in Europe, to the isle of Akdamar
(Akhtamar in Armenian) on Lake Van, to the 10th century Church of the
Holy Cross, Anatolia news agency said.
Turkish authorities restored the church between 2005 and 2007, which
then opened as a museum. Mass was celebrated there for the first time
in 95 years in 2010.
According to the Turkish tourism ministry, the church attracted nearly
30,000 visitors in 2010, and similar number in 2011.
Monsignor Aram Atessian, the acting Armenian patriarch, presided over
this year's mass, attended by 2,000 faithful, of whom only a few dozen
were able to watch inside the church, the rest following proceedings
from outside.
The congregation prayed for peace in the world at a time when Turkey's
neighbour Syria, which also has a large community of Armenians, is
being torn apart by a conflict that has left thousands of people dead
since it erupted in March 2011.
The church is one of the very rare surviving indicators of the large
Armenian presence in Turkey under Ottoman rule, before the massacres
and deportations between 1915 and 1917, which Armenia considers
genocide, a term rejected by Ankara.
Today the Armenian community in Turkey, which numbers around 70,000,
is concentrated in Istanbul.
Neighbours Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations and a
move towards reconciliation launched in 2009 has not borne fruit.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=530271&version=1&templ ate_id=39&parent_id=21
Sept 10 2012
Armenians flock to Sunday mass at ancient church
AFP/Istanbul
Around 2,000 Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora flocked yesterday
to a recently restored ancient church on a tiny island in the east of
the country for an annual mass.
Boats provided a shuttle service for pilgrims from all over Turkey,
and some from Armenia and elsewhere in Europe, to the isle of Akdamar
(Akhtamar in Armenian) on Lake Van, to the 10th century Church of the
Holy Cross, Anatolia news agency said.
Turkish authorities restored the church between 2005 and 2007, which
then opened as a museum. Mass was celebrated there for the first time
in 95 years in 2010.
According to the Turkish tourism ministry, the church attracted nearly
30,000 visitors in 2010, and similar number in 2011.
Monsignor Aram Atessian, the acting Armenian patriarch, presided over
this year's mass, attended by 2,000 faithful, of whom only a few dozen
were able to watch inside the church, the rest following proceedings
from outside.
The congregation prayed for peace in the world at a time when Turkey's
neighbour Syria, which also has a large community of Armenians, is
being torn apart by a conflict that has left thousands of people dead
since it erupted in March 2011.
The church is one of the very rare surviving indicators of the large
Armenian presence in Turkey under Ottoman rule, before the massacres
and deportations between 1915 and 1917, which Armenia considers
genocide, a term rejected by Ankara.
Today the Armenian community in Turkey, which numbers around 70,000,
is concentrated in Istanbul.
Neighbours Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations and a
move towards reconciliation launched in 2009 has not borne fruit.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=530271&version=1&templ ate_id=39&parent_id=21