Liturgy to be served at Turkey's Aghtamar Armenian churchAugust 21, 2020 - 10:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Preparations have begun for a Holy Mass to be served at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, a medieval Armenian church on Aghtamar Island, in Lake Van, Turkey, TRT Haber reports. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, though, a limited number of people will be able to participate in the ceremony on September 6. The first ritual in the historic church was held on September 19, 2010, after a 95-year break. According to Turkish media reports, though thousands of tourists from Turkey and abroad are expected to attend the ceremony this year, their entry to the territory of the church will be limited. The 1,100-year-old Akhtamar Church, a medieval Armenian place of worship in Turkey’s eastern Van province, was built between 915-921 A.D by architect Bishop Manuel, under the direction of King Gagik I Artsruni of Armenia. Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has carried out renovation and restoration works, and the church is now classed as a secular museum. Top stories The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |