Crosses on domes of Armenian churches arouse Ankara's fears

PanARMENIAN.Net - The reconstruction of St. Kirakos church of Diarbekir (historical name: Tigranakert) was not Turkey's initiative; the idea was proposed by Istanbul Armenian community with the participation of Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, primate of AAC Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkish studies expert Ruben Melkonyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.



A recent fire seriously damaged the building which is in a rather poor state, he said, adding that

"Only walls and pillars remain standing, so its still early to speak about restoration."



According to some documents discovered from Diarbekir archive, certain buildings belong to either Armenian communities or churches and schools, Armenian expert noted. Relevant Legal processes are currently under way. "As mentioned by one of Diarbekir officials, half of the town will be recognized as Armenian in case those documents prove legal," Melkonyan stressed.



At the same time, he didn't rule out possibility of Turkey's attempting to impede the process of church reconstruction since Crosses on domes of Armenian churches arouse Ankara's fears. "No church in Western Armenia has a cross on its dome. That's Turkey's state policy," Armenian expert said. At that he noted that Turkey's initiative may be viewed from two angles: as PR reaction on one hand and distortion of Armenian architecture on other.



"In almost all their statements, Turkish officials remind that they are reconstructing Armenian churches," Melkonyan said, adding that architects do not always obtain the true image of construction as a result of restoration work. In that regard, he estimated Armenian architects' non-involvement as a great disadvantage.