Holy Cross church on Aghtamar island to operate as museumAugust 8, 2009 - 13:46 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Holy Cross Armenian church, recently restored in Turkey, operates as a museum, Alexander Sotnichenko, leading analyst of St. Petersburg Center for Middle East Studies, told a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent. Even if the church has a cross on its cupola, that won't change anything, the expert finds, because as far as he is aware, there is now the Turkish flag fluttering there. "Turkey's actions are maneuvers for both the West and Russia," Russian analyst said, noting in the meantime that Turkey conducts literate information policy. "Turkey recently invited Russian and foreign journalists to show them ancient Armenian monuments and prove that there was allegedly no conflict between two nations. Besides, I don't think Turkey will mind if Aghtamar becomes a new tourist center," Russian expert noted. Turkey just wants to show that it has respect for the ethnic groups which formerly inhabited on its territory. But despite its "reasonable" political steps, it should perceive the difference between restoring a church and opening a border. "By normalizing ties with Armenia, Turkey seeks to increase its influence in Caucasus," Russian analyst said, adding that Baku has fears of Armenian-Turkish ties normalization process. "Turkish-Azerbaijani relations are no longer as warm as they used to be. In 1990's, Turkish government had closer ties with Azerbaijan. But now it acts against Azerbaijan's interests, as it is more interested in normalizing Armenian-Turkish ties." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |