Tag: Akdamar

  • U.S. Congress Tells Turkey To Safeguard Christian Heritage

    In a resolution hailed by Armenian-American groups but criticized by Ankara, the U.S. House of Representatives urged Turkey late on Tuesday to respect religious freedom and return Armenian and other Christian worship sites to their “rightful owners.”

    Turkey — The Holy Virgin Armenian cathedral in Ani, 30Sep2010

    The resolution drafted by two California lawmakers, Republican Ed Royce and Democrat Howard Berman, is virtually identical with legislation approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in July. It said the Turkish authorities should “end all forms of religious discrimination” of the country’s Christian minorities.

    “Despite Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s recent claims of progress on religious freedom, Turkey’s Christian communities continue to face severe discrimination,” Royce said after the House vote.

    Berman spoke of “Turkey’s disturbing, persistent failure to respect the ancient Christian heritage of Anatolia.” “Turkey should take immediate steps to restore all confiscated church property and allow full freedom of worship and religious education for all Christian communities,” he said, according to the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

    Ankara was quick to denounce the resolution. The official Anatolia news agency quoted the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Namik Tan, as calling it “unfair and unjustified.”

    Turkey — Armenian Christians gather for the reopening of the Church of the Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island in Van,19Sep2010

    ​​​In contrast, the two main Armenian-American advocacy groups welcomed the measure. They both have lobbied hard for its passage.

    “We commend this bipartisan measure in support of religious freedom in Turkey,” said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America.

    “Today’s vote – over opposition from Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and, sadly, even our own American President’s Administration – represents a powerful victory for religious freedom,” read a separate statement by Ken Hachikian, the ANCA chairman. Hachikian said the resolution underlined the need for “the return of thousands of stolen Christian churches properties and holy sites.”

    The eastern regions of modern-day Turkey were once home to hundreds of Armenian churches built there since the early Middle Ages. The vast majority of them were destroyed, ransacked or turned into mosques during and after 1915 slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

    Royce rebuked Ankara on Tuesday for continuing to vehemently deny that the mass killings and deportations constituted genocide.

    One of the few surviving examples of the ancient Armenian civilization in eastern Turkey, the 10th century church of Surp Khach (Holy Cross), was renovated by the Turkish government in 2007. The church perched on the legendary Akhtamar island in Lake Van saw its first mass in nearly a century in September last year.

    Turkey — Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party or MHP (R), and provincial party chiefs offer their Friday prayers at an abandoned church-turned-mosque in the historical site of Ani in the Kars province, 01Oct2010

    ​​The authorities in Ankara have so far resisted calls for the church’s formal return to Turkey’s small Armenian community. The Akhtamar temple currently has the status of a state museum.

    The Turkish government caused outrage in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora later in 2010 when it allowed Turkish nationalists to perform Muslim prayers in another historic Armenian church, the 11th century Holy Virgin Cathedral.

    The imposing cathedral is located at the ruins of Ani, the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom. It lies less than one kilometer from the Turkish-Armenian border.

    Built by an Armenian royal dynasty in 1001 A.D., the cathedral has for centuries been regarded as a masterpiece of medieval Armenian architecture. According to official Turkish sources, Seljuk Sultan Alparslan converted it into a mosque when he captured Ani and surrounding regions in 1064. The Seljuks were driven out of much of historical Armenia a century later.

    via U.S. Congress Tells Turkey To Safeguard Christian Heritage.

  • A journey off the beaten path in Turkey

    A journey off the beaten path in Turkey

    A professional meeting in Antalya made Turkey an obvious vacation choice, even if I wasn’t considering returning to a country I had already visited.

    This time, I asked Cemil Konuralp, the guide on my previous trip, to take me off the beaten path. His proposed itinerary was compelling: a road trip along the border of Eastern Turkey to the Black Sea.

    akdamarDay 1

    Our flight from Istanbul to Van arrived in time for us to indulge in the breakfast buffet at Merit Sahmaran Hotel. We claimed a table on the terrace overlooking Lake Van to dine on cheeses, yogurt, fruit, nuts, honey and fresh breads.

    Fortified, we drove along the southern shore of Lake Van, Turkey’s largest lake, past apple stands, herds of sheep and a road sign pointing toward Iran 43 kilometers away. We sipped tea until the ferry to Akdamar Island appeared.

    Lake Van glowed turquoise against the snow-capped mountains to the northwest. The 10th-century Akdamar Kilisesi (Church of the Holy Cross) came into view. This Armenian Orthodox cathedral was part of a royal complex that included a palace, monastery and terraced gardens. The recently restored church, with its exterior relief carvings of Old Testament scenes, is stunning.

    Van, the market center for Kurdish tribes, was capital of the Urartian Kingdom in the ninth century B.C. Human settlement in the area, however, dates to 5000 B.C. Today, Van’s main street teems with traffic.

    After lunch, Cemil guided me to Atasoy Art, specializing in Urartian jewelry and fine reproductions. We saw necklaces of ancient glass and gold-embedded beads thousands of years old.

     

    Day 2

     

    We set out early for Hosap Kalesi, high above the village of Hosap. Original structures on the site date from medieval times. A Kurdish lord rebuilt the castle in 1643, an extraordinary domain with hundreds of rooms, including a dungeon, harem, selamilik (men’s quarters) and a sunken theater where fights were held for entertainment. Enough remains to fuel imagination.

    Next stop: Cavustepe, the mountain-top ruins of an Urartian fortress built in the mid-700s B.C. The guard, 72-year-old Mehmet Kusman, pointed out the kitchen, bath, water cisterns and huge buried pots still containing grain. One of few to know the Urartian language, he read the palace dedication, moving his fingers over cuneiform symbols chiseled into basalt blocks nearly 3,000 years old.

    After lunch in Van, we stopped at the well-known Urartu Carpets, and with Cemil’s bargaining, I bought a fine kilim.

     

    Day 3

     

    Dogubeyazit was our next destination. The road hugged the Iranian border, military watchtowers dotting the hills. A stop at Muradiye provided views of the lush waterfall from a suspension bridge. We passed through a field of black volcanic rock, a moonscape extending for miles

    Dogubeyazit’s claim to fame is proximity to Mount Ararat, Turkey’s tallest mountain at nearly 17,000 feet. According to the Bible, Noah’s ark came to rest on its peak.

    We visited the meticulously restored 18th-century Ishak Pasha Palace. Afterward, we drove right to the Iranian border, where lines of waiting cargo trucks stretched out of sight, and we marveled at a huge meteor crater dating to 1938.

    Back in Dogubeyazit, we were two of four guests at the Sim-Er Hotel, where the staff was preparing to close for the season. For our extremely private dinner, the chef catered to my semi-vegetarian diet with a beautiful stuffed eggplant.

     

    Day 4

     

    We began the long drive to Kars early. Cemil suggested a detour to the village of Tuzluca, noted for its salt mine. He maneuvered our car deep into the mine, then suggested tea. Of many such stops, this was the strangest: tea in porcelain cups in a cavern draped in tiny lights, furnished with ornate love seats and wingback chairs, served by the 20-something owner, his gel-spiked hair pointing every which way.

    via A journey off the beaten path in Turkey – San Antonio Express-News.

  • KYOCERA Solar Modules Illuminate “Cathedral of the Holy Cross” in Turkey

    KYOCERA Solar Modules Illuminate “Cathedral of the Holy Cross” in Turkey

    akdamar church van lakeKYOTO, Japan, Nov 02, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Kyocera Corporation (KYO 99.91, +0.43, +0.43%) (tokyo:6971) today announced that it has supplied solar modules that help to illuminate the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross — located on the island of Akdamar, Turkey. This year church services were held there for the first time in 90 years. As an important cultural landmark, the church is illuminated in the evenings throughout the year. The energy required for the illumination, which was previously supplied by diesel fuel, now comes from Kyocera solar modules. The modules were supplied by KYOCERA Fineceramics GmbH and installed by the Turkish company Ezinc A.S.

    The uninhabited island of Akdamar in Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey, is the location of the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross. In recent times this Christian house of worship was only used as a museum. Now, with the permission of the Turkish government, a church service is again to take place there every year. Illumination outside of the church is now made possible from power generated by solar energy.

    The Province of Van, which includes the island of Akdamar, records the third highest sunlight values in Turkey. In combination with the cool island climate, the location offers ideal conditions for the operation of a solar power generating system. The installation consists of 145 modules that supply an average energy yield of 25,000 kilowatt-hours per year.

    Before the installation of the solar plant, the power supply for the church came from a diesel generator, which even when operated for only three hours a day, incurred high costs of 25,000 euros per year. As a result, the return period for the investment on this solar installation will be significantly shorter than typical cases.

    For more information about Kyocera:

    About KYOCERA

    Kyocera Corporation (KYO 99.91, +0.43, +0.43%) (tokyo:6971)(http://global.kyocera.com/), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as “advanced ceramics”). By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of solar power generating systems, telecommunications equipment, electronic components, printers, copiers, semiconductor packages, cutting tools and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2010, the company’s net sales totaled 1.07 trillion yen (approximately USD11.5 billion). The company is ranked #554 on Forbes magazine’s 2010 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.

    Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:

    SOURCE: Kyocera Corporation

  • Holy Cross deserves more Armenian tears

    Holy Cross deserves more Armenian tears

    For the first time in 95 years liturgy and hymns were heard on Lake Van

    by Tatul Hakobyan

    Van, Turkey – As Armenian clergy led by acting Istanbul Patriarch Aram Ateshyan were ringing the bells and making their way from the half-destroyed bell-tower to the Church of Holy Cross to hold a divine liturgy there for the first time in 95 years, several hundred mostly Turkish Armenians walked around the church, looked out towards the lake, lit candles and cried.

    An older man kneeled before the church walls and silently prayed and cried with his eyes to the sky.

    A middle-aged woman kept trying to light a candle but couldn’t with her hands trembling as she cried.

    Another woman walked between cracked khachkars (cross-stones) lying here and there in the church yard and cried with her entire body shaking.

    holy akdamarBut the Church of Holy Cross (Surb Khach in Armenian) deserves more Armenian tears, more prayers and more believers. The Van Lake (or the Van Sea as Armenians call it), its azure waves have long yearned for Armenian eyes.

    By noon on September 19 only several dozen Armenians from Armenia arrived here with the same number coming from Diaspora.

    The many who were expected to come but did not must have heeded the calls of Armenian authorities and the Armenian Church (both Echmiadzin and Cilicia, as well as the Jerusalem Patriarchate) who urged Armenians not to go to Akhtamar on this day, September 19, not to participate in a “Turkish show.”

    But this was far from being show. Anyone on Akhtamar that day felt the energy, the magnetism of the place that dominated everywhere on the island. This was no show. This was a collective prayer for the souls of innocent victims of 1915, even though Archbishop Aram did not specifically mention them.

    Last time a liturgy at the Church of Holy Cross was performed in 1915, shortly before the final expulsion of Armenians from this area during the Genocide. Ninety-five years later, a liturgy was heard, but in spite of promises by Turkish officials, the church’s dome was still missing its cross.

    Armenian secular and religious leaders called for a boycott after it became clear that a cross would not be installed in time for the ceremony. So, most Armenians who arrived from Armenia were journalists, many of whom came with financial support of various international organizations.

    Diaspora media did not dispatch journalists to Akhtamar even though the Turkish Prime Minister’s office sent invitations offering to take up all of their expenses.

    Kapriel Chemberjian, who lives in Syria and is a director of the Punik (Phoenix) benevolent fund, has been to Akhtamar and Western Armenia before. This time he arrived with his wife. While he agrees with Armenia’s official boycott, he also believes it is natural for Armenians from all over the world to want to come to a liturgy at a place so sacred for Armenians.

    “This is our land, and we should be able to come here whenever we want, as pilgrims, to light a candle,” said Chemberjian, who is also one of the contributors to reconstruction of the Diyarbakir (Tigranakert) church and other Armenian undertakings.

    Businessman Dikran Chiderjian who lives in Monaco has also been to Western Armenia before. Together with his French wife he was here in the late 1990s.

    “Several years ago a liturgy at the Holy Cross would seem like a dream. Perhaps not everything was properly prepared, but this is an important step towards reclaiming our heritage,” said 70-year-old Chiterchian.

    The day before he crisscrossed the lake on a boat visiting other largely destroyed Armenian monuments in this area that have been abandoned for nearly a century.

    “[Reasons provided for] Echmiadzin’s refusal to dispatch representatives to the ceremony were merely a cover, real reasons are political,” Chiderjian says.

    Armen Yarmayan, 62, is a trustee of the Holy Savior hospital in Istanbul.

    “I came to hear a liturgy that is taking place here for the first time since 1915,” he said. According to Yarmayan, Armenia’s boycott is justified, but Turks too should not be blamed for not installing the cross.

    “Time will put everything in its place, the cross will be installed and believers from Armenia will come to the next liturgy,” he predicted.

    Krikor Kyokchian was born in Istanbul, but lives in Beirut. He came to Akhtamar with four members of his family to be here, as he said, on an historic day.

    “Let there be ten boycotts, I would have come here anyway, I needed to see this for myself,” he said.

    The Church of Holy Cross was built in the early 10th century in the times of Gagik the First Artsruni, King of Vaspurakan. Designed by architect Manvel the church served as the Catholicosal residence adjacent to the Artsruni court. Due to politics of the period, five Catholicoses resided at Akhtamar during the 10th century.

    As conditions in the Ararat valley more or less normalized, Catholicos moved to the Church of Argina in Ani. Since then the Holy Cross was no longer a residence for the Catholicos of All Armenians. But to preserve that memory, Akhtamar’s clerical brotherhood continued to call their leaders Catholicoses.

    So it turns out that 10th century Armenians were able to create a cultural monument of world heritage value, but 21st century Turks are “unable” to install a cross on top of it.

    They claim that either there was not enough time, or the cross was too heavy, or wonder how could they have a cross in a Muslim country, and then quickly add that the cross would go up a week after the ceremony.

    If this is a possible to do a week later, why not do it before the liturgy, to make sure that more people come, including from Armenia?

    The cross, which by the way weighs not 200 kilos as some Turks claimed, citing that as a reason why it may damage the dome, but just 76 kilos, could be seen standing not far from the church.

    In March 2007, following its restoration, the Church of Holy Cross was opened as a museum with a prohibition that it be used for religious ceremonies. Armenian officials, including deputy minister of culture, were present at that opening.

    As part of that ceremony, a huge Turkish flag was unfurled on the island and that was truly a show.

    This time there wasn’t anything like that. Other than a single blood-red flag with a crescent in the Akhtamar bay, on September 19 one would be hard-pressed to find Turkish symbols on the island.

    Nevertheless, helicopters circling in the air, and a boat with armed soldiers seen in the lake throughout the ceremony, did serve as reminders that this was a state-planned event, in a way a “show.”

    Among the guests one could see the governor of Van province and the mayor of Van, as well as foreign diplomats accredited in Ankara.

    Van governor did all he could to ensure a larger turnout through participation of local residents. During the liturgy Muslim Turks and Kurds outnumbered Armenians several times. Some of them came out of curiosity, others for a weekend getaway on the shores of Van.

    “Dear Armenian friends, welcome to Van,” a poster announced near the entrance to the city. But no other writings could be seen that would identify the Akhtamar Church as Armenian, and term Armenian seemed to be studiously avoided.

    But on September 17 several pages of the local Van newspaper were published in Western Armenian, produced in cooperation with Istanbul-based Agos. They included a feature on “What happened with monasteries of Van” that listed about a hundred monuments located on the shores of the lake, most of them now destroyed and some still partly intact, all abandoned.

    Turkish Armenians say that the Church of Holy Cross will soon have its cross installed. They say that 10 to 15 years ago they would not even dare to think of its reconstruction or about having a divine liturgy here, even without a cross in place. They see the September 19 ceremony as not completely satisfactory, but still an important milestone in the life of their community.

    Akhtamar and its Church of the Holy Cross deserve to see more Armenians come, more Armenians crying, praying and walking around.

    Our Lake Van, its azure waves have long yearned for Armenian eyes.

    — Journalist Tatul Hakobyan is an expert with the Civilitas Foundation. From 2006 to 2009, he was the Armenian Reporter’s senior correspondent. He is the author of “Artsakh Diary: Green and Black,” a book about the Karabakh war published in Armenian, English and Russian. He will soon publish his second book “View from Ararat: Armenians and Turks.”

    (c) 2010 Armenian Reporter

  • Armenians worship in eastern Turkey, and for some it’s bittersweet

    Armenians worship in eastern Turkey, and for some it’s bittersweet

    Hundreds attend a service at the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, the first held there since 1915, when a wave of violence nearly destroyed one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East.

    Most visited the small church for a few minutes and watched the ceremony via giant television screens set up in the gardens outside. (Mustafa Ozer / AFP / Getty Images)

    Reporting from Akdamar Island, Turkey, and Beirut —

    A Sunday service at a historic church in eastern Turkey underscored both the desire for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and the hurdles that remain nearly a century after a violent massacre of Armenians.

    It was the first service held in the 1,100-year-old Armenian Church of the Holy Cross since 1915, when a wave of violence nearly destroyed one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East.

    Many Armenians in the diaspora and the neighboring republic of Armenia boycotted and denounced Sunday’s service on Akdamar Island after Turkish authorities did not allow a cross to be raised on the dome of the church. It was placed on the church grounds instead.

    Still, hundreds of Armenian pilgrims attended, many coming from the relatively large Armenian community in Istanbul, Turkey’s main city, but also from Iran, Germany, France and from as far away as the United States. They flooded local hotels and sang hymns as they traversed Lake Van by boat to get to the site.

    “There is a village far, far away,” one group sang. “It’s my village even though I never go or I haven’t seen it.”

    Most visited the small church for a few minutes and watched the ceremony via giant television screens set up in the gardens outside.

    “I feel bittersweet about being here, because I grew up hearing about the life in Van from my parents,” said Paul Shahinian, a 58-year-old visiting from New Jersey. “I always had images in my head about Van. I never imagined I could come here because Turkey didn’t welcome Armenians.”

    The church, surrounded by verdant mountains and hills, is decorated on the outside with carvings of animals such as peacocks, goats and owls, which are common in Armenian iconography. Paintings inside are meant to represent the heavens.

    “This church, which is a valuable piece of art, is a cultural monument that belongs to the whole of humanity,” Archbishop Aram Atesyan of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey said during a two-hour service he led, according to Turkey’s official Anatolian news agency.

    The 8-year-old government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strived to heal the wounds of the past by reaching out to Armenians in Turkey and abroad in an attempt to bolster its international reputation and smooth out obstacles to possible Turkish entry into the European Union. In 2005, Turkey began a $1.5-million restoration of the church, opening it as a museum in 2007. It will host an annual religious service from now on.

    Some critics, both in Turkey and among Armenians, have denounced the handling of the church opening as an attempt by Turks to whitewash a violent history. But others describe the Sunday event as an important gesture by an activist Turkish government that appears more ready and able than previous political elites to address the country’s domestic and international sore spots.

    But attempts at reconciliation between Armenians and Turks have often faltered, as much over misunderstandings of gestures as substantive differences, the latter including Turkey’s refusal to abide by the widely accepted description of the killings as genocide.

    The cross controversy underscores the sensitivity of relations between Turks and Armenians, even over relatively minor matters. Turkish officials blamed the church’s Italian architect, saying the dome could not support the 440-pound cross. The provincial governor of Van has promised that a cross would be mounted on the church within six weeks.

    But many Armenians suspect continued chauvinism by Turks, who are governed by a political party that has roots in the country’s Islamist movements. “The cross wasn’t there because of the fears of the governments,” said Rafi Altunkeser, a 40-year-old Armenian Turk visiting from Istanbul.

    But other Armenians called for reconciliation. Harry Parsekian, a Boston resident, said his family originally lived in eastern Turkey but was driven out. He first returned to the Van region in 1985 and has since gone back many times.

    “When I was young I never imagined I would have Turkish friends,” Parsekian said. “But I do have really good Turkish friends now. And I believe this is a good step for the Armenians and Turks.”

    daragahi@latimes.com

    Special correspondent Saracoglu reported from Akdamar Island.

    Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

  • Armenian Church in Turkey Reopens to Worship

    Armenian Church in Turkey Reopens to Worship

    By JOE PARKINSON

    AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey—Turkey allowed Armenians to worship at a symbolic but politically sensitive church here for the first time since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire on Sunday, in a service hailed by Turkish officials as a sign of growing tolerance for religious minorities, but which underscored the lingering distrust between Ankara and Yerevan.

    The emotional two-hour mass at the Church of the Holy Cross—an iconic landmark on Akdamar island in the turquoise waters of Lake Van in Turkey’s poverty-stricken southeast region—was attended by about 1,000 people. But that was a fraction of the 5,000 visitors expected, as a partial Armenian boycott saw thousands cancel their trips after Turkish authorities refused to display a 200-kilogram (440-pound) cross on the church’s roof, claiming it was too heavy and could damage the structure. The five-meter-tall (16.5-foot-tall) cross instead was set next to the belltower of the church.

    Armenians Pray at Akdamar

    Joe Parkinson/The Wall Street JournalThe 10th century Church of the Holy Cross on Akmadar Island is one of the finest remaining examples of medieval Armenian architecture. It currently functions as a museum, after renovation by the Turkish government was completed in 2007 at a cost of $1.5 million.

    Worshippers, the vast majority from the Armenian diaspora community, packed into the small red-stone church or watched Orthodox priests deliver the first liturgy there in almost 100 years on big-screen televisions specially erected for the event. Some pilgrims, overcome with emotion, held wooden crosses aloft as they prayed. Others exchanged stories about the ancient Armenian civilization that once existed in Turkey, but was almost erased in 1915 in what many regard as genocide. Turkey strongly denies that a genocide took place, describing the killings as the tragic result of a civil war in which all sides suffered.

    Eighty year-old Lebanese Armenian Victoria Tutunjian, whose parents fled to Beirut to escape those killings, said she “always hoped but never imagined” she could come to pray here. “I’m so happy this ceremony is taking place and I will come here every year until the day I die. But Turks are still my enemy, and coming here and walking on this soil is my revenge,” she said, clutching a small Armenian flag.

    akdamarOther Turks and armenians here were more positive about the service’s significance. “This is a great day for all Armenians, I’m confident things will start to change now,” said Tigran Abrahamian, a 45-year old industrial engineer from Istanbul, who is married to a Turk and brought his family to the service. An estimated 170,000 Armenians live in Turkey, according to Turkish authorities, who say more than half aren’t legal residents.

    Still, Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia remain bitterly divided over their troubled history. The border between them remains closed despite U.S.-brokered peace accords signed last year.

    For Armenians across the world, the Church of the Holy Cross, abandoned in 1915 and reopened in 2007 as a museum after a $1.5 million restoration, has become symbolic of the deportation and killings at the hands of Ottoman forces. The controversy over the church’s cross underlines the mistrust between the neighbors. In Yerevan on Sunday, 1,500 people attended an alternative religious service at a genocide memorial that denounced the Akdamar service as a publicity stunt.

    “Our mission for today was to show that the Turkish government should not use our heritage as a propaganda tool to pretend that they are tolerant,” said Hayk Demoyan, director of Yerevan’s Genocide Museum, in a telephone interview after he addressed the crowds.

    Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay said that the government had agreed to the Armenian religious service in good faith and that nationalists on both sides were exploiting the event for political purposes.

    Sunday’s service was the second of two special church openings recently permitted by the Turkish government. Ankara in August allowed Christians to pray at a Greek Orthodox monastery in Sumela, in the Black Sea region, for the first time since the country’s creation.

    TURKARMEN

    Associated PressArmenians worship in Church of the Holy Cross, in Van, Turkey, Sunday.

    TURKARMEN

    Often criticized for its treatment of Christian minorities, Ankara has promoted the services as proof of its growing commitment to religious tolerance. Critics say the tightly controlled services are a carefully choreographed public-relations campaign designed to boost Turkey’s prospects of joining the European Union, for which it is a candidate.

    “Yes, this is a PR stunt by the Turkish government to show it is being respectful to its minorities… but, frankly, if it means that Turkey and Armenia can move closer towards resolving their differences, then who cares,” said Ara Sarafian, director of the Gomidas Institute, a London-based research organization.

    Local businesses in the region are Van are supportive of improved relations, hoping religious tourists would help the region profit. Gaye Akay, a hotelier born in Van but based in Ankara, is planning to open the region’s first five-star hotel next year. “We think this is the beginning of something really special,” she said. “More Armenians and international tourists will start coming here and spending their dollars.

    Negotiations to open the border between Turkey and Armenia went into deep freeze, as neither side ratified a deal outlined last year and both sides accused the other of setting additional conditions.

    Write to Joe Parkinson at joe.parkinson@dowjones.com