Tour operators gearing up to take Armenians to Turkey

Tour operators gearing up to take Armenians to Turkey

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

YEREVAN – Hürriyet Daily News

Surp Haç church on Akdamar Island

Tourism operators serving diaspora Armenians, as well as members of the community in Armenia and Istanbul, are organizing special tours for those wishing to attend a special mass in September on Lake Van.

The sole operator to organize a tour to Van in Armenia, Ani Tour, is planning to take their customers to the eastern province of Van for the Sept. 19 service at Surp Haç church on Akdamar Island through Georgia due to the closed borders between Armenia and Turkey.

The company chose to organize the tours after seeing an increase in demand since early 2010, Ani Tour Assistant Manager Lusine Garabetyan recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

The number of participants had already reached several hundred by July, he said.

Tour prices start from $395 and are offered as package programs. Garabetyan said since the land borders are closed it was impossible for the tour group to reach Turkey without first going through Georgia. “Therefore, the travel time will take almost a day.”

Istanbul Armenians to attend as well

Armenians from Istanbul will also travel to Van during the week after Sept. 12 via tours organized by Turkey’s Armenian Patriarchate. Armenians from Armenia, on the other hand, will set off Sept. 17 from Yerevan.

Armenians going to Van by bus will return following the same route on Sept. 22, Garabetyan said, adding that applications to join the tours were increasing every day and that they were experiencing a surge in demand.

Not all the Armenians hoping to join the service will visit Turkey on a tour as a small minority will make their own way to Van via Georgia, with their own car or by bus.

One of the prospective travelers, Levon Astoyan, said he hoped the mass would be the beginning of a new era for both Armenia and Turkey.

Thanks to permission granted by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the event on Akdamar Island will be the first mass at the church in almost 95 years.