050629 - ARMENIAN ARCHITECT TO LEAD RESTORATION OF AKHTAMAR CHURCH ON LAKE VAN

Ghibrahayer Arminian Agency

ARMENIAN ARCHITECT TO LEAD RESTORATION OF AKHTAMAR CHURCH ON LAKE VAN

Sunday, June 26, 2005 - ANKARA - Turkish Daily News A Turkish private company that will restore a historic Armenian church has decided to hire a Turkish architect of Armenian origin as part of the restoration team consisting of archaeologists, art historians and
civil engineers.
The owner of the company, Cahit Zeydanli, met late last week with Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafian to consult with him on hiring an Armenian architect for the project. After the meeting, Zeydanli said the company planned to hire Zakarya Mildanoglu in line with the recommendation of the Armenian patriarch.
The restoration may take a year or two and our goal is to restore a nice church in accordance to its original form. He predicted the restoration work would be completed by the end of 2006. The church is on Akhtamar Island, situated in Lake Van, and has historical
significance for both Turks and Armenians.
Zeydanli said the renovation project has the full support of top level Turkish officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koe.
GERMAN PARLIAMENT DEALS FATAL BLOW TO TURKISH DENIAL OF GENOCIDE
By Harut Sassounian; Publisher, The California Courier

Last week, there were three important countries that had not yet recognized the Armenian Genocide: Germany, the United States and Great Britain.
Following last Thursday’s action by the German Bundestag (parliament), there are now only two major countries left that are still in denial: the United States and Great Britain.
Just a few months ago, if anyone had said that Germany would adopt a resolution on the Armenian Genocide anytime soon, we would have questioned that person’s sanity.
There are several reasons why the German Parliament’s decision is a significant development:
-- Germany is one of Turkey’s staunchest allies in Europe;
-- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his ruling party were initially completely opposed to this proposed resolution;
-- While only 30,000 Armenians live in Germany, there are more than 3 million Turks in that country;
-- The Turkish government and the large Turkish community in Germany tried everything in their power to block the consideration of this resolution by the German Parliament;
-- All the political factions in the Bundestag, including the ruling party, ended up unanimously supporting the resolution on the Armenian Genocide;
-- The resolution states that the Germans acknowledge their own share of guilt in the Armenian Genocide and urge the Turks to face up to their dark past.

The Bundestag’s adoption of this resolution deals a fatal blow to the Turkish government’s desperate attempts to bury the issue of the Armenian Genocide. This must be particularly demoralizing for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who spared no time and effort trying to convince the world that there was no such thing as Armenian Genocide. In fact, as I have written repeatedly in this column, the more the Turks try to block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the more they bring this issue up to the attention of world leaders and the international news media. For example, at the beginning of June, a Turkish group paid close to million dollars to send to Time magazine’s half a million European subscribers a 70 minute long DVD that denied and distorted the facts of the Armenian Genocide. The Turks thus made another half a million people aware of the Armenian Genocide.
Ironically, a big debt of gratitude for the success of the German resolution goes to Turkey’s own ambassador to Germany, Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik. He inadvertently helped the passage of the proposed bill by insulting the members of the German Parliament during his hysterical efforts to block its passage.

more at: http://www.azg.am/?lang=EN&num=2005062501

What's the Turkish for genocide?
The Times / UK June 18, 2005 - Ben Macintyre

If Turkey wants to join the EU it must confront its bloody past and admit to the massacre of the Armenians

V.V