My first visit to Van was back in October 1983, during the election campaign for the Nov. 6 elections that brought the Motherland Party, or ANAP, of late Turgut Özal to government with a landslide victory.
It was on that trip that I saw for the first time the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross, or the Surp Haç Church, on Akdamar Island at Lake Van.
Put aside the Ankara government allowing the Akdamar Church to be opened to religious worship for a single day a year, it was almost impossible in those days to even dream that the Turkish government would spent some 1.7 million dollars for the restoration of the 1,100-year-old church which in addition to its religious and historical importance, has drawn attraction with its stone workmanship and the reliefs on its walls.
Yet, Turkey spent 1.7 million dollars, completed the restoration of the historic church and I was lucky enough to be among those several hundred people, including the Armenian patriarch, representatives of the Turkish Armenian community, diplomats and officials of Turkey and Armenia invited for its opening after restoration in 2007. It was great to see Turkey waking up to the need of preserving and protecting the cultural heritage of this land. And now the 1,100-year old Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross on the Akdamar Island is preparing to open its doors for a single day rite on Sept. 19 – originally scheduled for Sept. 12 but was put off one week as Turkey is scheduled to go to a referendum on a set of constitutional amendments on that day.
Furthermore, the Committee of Cultural Monuments and Nature Conservation in Van decided to accept calls from the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey and to allow the placement of a cross atop the dome of the historic church on the condition that the cross must be a replica of the original cross. When the doors of the church are opened for the Sept. 19 rite, hopefully the cross will already be placed at its dome.
So far so good... But, in the meantime a problem which was not foreseen before started to emerge as the date of the single day rite came closer. Where to accommodate some 5,000 people from Armenian communities all around the world who would come to Van to attend the Sept. 19 rite? While there are still almost four months before the Sept. 19 rite, all hotels and guest houses in Van were apparently fully booked, while reservation requests keep pouring in.
“Opening our homes to Armenians”
If in a symbolic gesture to the Armenian community around the world, as part of Turkey's efforts to normalize relations with Armenia, could the Van governor and other top officials of the city say, “Finding accommodation for some 5,000 people coming to Van for the occasion is none of my business”? But, how to solve the accommodation problem?
At that extremely difficult point appeared a ray of hope with a precious “Opening our homes to Armenians” campaign from a local newspaper, the Van Times, which besides Turkish is published in Kurdish, English and Persian. How would a “Opening our homes to Armenians” campaign by a local paper solve the immense problem? What would be the meaning of such a campaign by a local newspaper which has a daily circulation of only around 1,000 copies?
Despite its small circulation, however, within days many people had reportedly joined the campaign, most of them offering to host a couple in their homes, but some suggesting they might host up to 10 “guests.” Van Times Publisher Aziz Aykaç said people have already offered to host some 500 people in their homes and the figure will reach thousands soon. He said the campaign, supported and encouraged by the Governor’s Office and many local NGOs as well, will continue until Sept. 19 and he was confident that the people of Van will demonstrate an excellent example of traditional Turkish hospitality to the Armenians coming to their city for the rite at Akdamar. Besides, Aykaç said his paper would appear in Armenian on Sept. 19 as a gesture to the visiting Armenian guests.
“There are animosities on both sides. I believe this is a good opportunity to establish human contact and try to understand each other better. By opening our houses and hearts to our Armenian friends, we will demonstrate our desire to bury old animosities in the past and look to future together. It is time to bury taboos,” Aykaç said.
My appreciation to Aykaç and the Van Times. You made a hopeful difference! You are not just opening your homes but also your hearts and embracing a common future.
Yusuf Kanli/Hurriyet Daily News
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