Peace Passage’ over Aras River

Peace Passage’ over Aras River

Armenia is calling on Turkey to help build a 'peace passage' over the Aras River. Former deputy culture minister of Armenia, Gagik Gürcüyan, talks about the history of the restoration process for the Surp Haç (Saint Cross) Church on Akdamar island in the eastern city of Van.

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
YEREVAN - Hürriyet Daily News


Armenia has called on Turkey to help build a “peace passage” between the two countries.

The president of the Armenia International Council of Monuments and Sites, and former deputy culture minister of Armenia, Gagik Gürcüyan, has proposed restoring the millennia-old bridge at the Ani ruins. Located on both sides of the Aras River, with one end in Turkey and the other in Armenia, his idea was to reopen the bridge as a peace passage between the two countries.

Gürcüyan, who served as deputy minister from 2004 to 2009, explained the details of the restoration process for the historic Surp Haç Church on Akdamar Island in Lake Van in the eastern district of Gevaş.

First official contact with Armenia

“Everyone thinks the dialogue process between Turkey and Armenia started last year during the national football game. This is a big mistake,” Gürcüyan told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. He said the first official contact between the two countries started during the restoration process of the Surp Haç Church by former culture minister Atilla Koç.

“Right after the general elections in Turkey in 2007, Koç was left out of the new Cabinet. If he remained in the Cabinet, he would have started the first official contact with his Armenian counterparts for the restoration of the Ani ruins. It was bad luck,” he said.

Controversial cross at the Patriarchate

Gürcüyan, who is also an architect, has closely followed the restoration process of the church. He said the restoration was flawless, but that the cross was not put on top of the historic church because the media in both countries had politicized the issue. “The manner of media made the process tense. The issue was brought into the political arena. Otherwise the cross would have been put in its former place.”

Gürcüyan said the cross that was delivered to the Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan was a true copy of the original. He said he believed the cross would be put in its original place in the near future.

Armenian draft in world congresses

The joint restoration work to be carried out for the Ani Ruins could make great contributions to Turkish–Armenian relations, Gürcüyan said. “First of all we can restore the ruined bridge over the Aras River. We can connect the two countries thanks to this bridge and call it a peace passage,” he said.

He said UNESCO had come up with the same idea 10 years ago but was not able to fulfill it. “As the ministry, we sent a letter to Turkey via the Moscow Embassy saying that we were ready to realize this project. It was the beginning of the 2000s and the Armenian draft was highlighted in world congresses. This is why the project was stopped.”

Yerevan and St. Petersburg documents

Russians carried out the most comprehensive work on the Ani Ruins from 1896 to 1918, according to Gürcüyan. He said an Armenian scientist Toros Toramanyan joined the research and the resulting documents were collected at the St. Petersburg Royal Academy and in the Armenian National Archives.

There were hundreds of drawings, documents and information in the archived documents, Gürcüyan said. “We are ready to share all types of documents for the restoration of the Ani Ruins to be finished in the shortest time and in the best way. We want to be a part of the restoration process,” he said.