by Vercihan Ziflioğlu

ISTANBUL - Turkey's culture minister calls on Armenia to cooperate in restoring the Ani ruins on the Turkish side of the border, but says that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue must be resolved first.

Turkey and Armenia should cooperate to restore the ancient town of Ani, said Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay, adding that any such effort would require a resolution of the problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The ministry’s plans for cooperation between the two countries are not limited to restoration work, Gunay told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review. He said he hoped to undertake many joint cultural projects with both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The ancient town of Ani was the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia between 961 and 1045. Its ruins are situated in the Arpacay region of the northeastern province of Kars, on the Turkish side of the border between the two countries.

According to Gunay, cultural efforts to establish peace in the Caucasus region cannot be maintained if they ignore Azerbaijan. “We cannot treat the people of Azerbaijan as if they don’t exist while trying to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia,” he said. “We should never forget that the province of Nagorno-Karabakh is still under Armenian occupation.”

Gunay said world-renowned Turkish piano virtuoso Idil Biret would hold a concert in Armenia in the next few months as part of her Caucasus tour. “We have certain sensitivities, but we also are aware that cultural activities can play a key role in resolving political issues,” he said. “This [the concert] is a first step.”

A stone quarry on the Armenian side of the border across from Ani has caused conflict in recent years, with Turkey blaming the explosions at the quarry for accelerating the destruction of the ancient town. Turkey’s complaint at the International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOC, a sub-department of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, resulted in Armenia halting blasting activities.

The Turkish government’s practice of calling the town “Anı,” rather than Ani, in order to give it a more Turkish character has also been a source of controversy. When asked about the matter, Gunay implied that it would soon be resolved. “I find changing the original names of historical sites meaningless,” he said. “Such names harm no one.”

The culture minister said the current restoration efforts in Ani would soon turn their focus to the town’s cathedral and that Armenian experts had recently attended a meeting on the project. The World Monuments Fund would support the restoration of the cathedral, he said.

‘Ready to help’ with Diyarbakir church
Gunay added that the ministry was also ready to contribute to the Turkish-Armenian community in Istanbul’s efforts to find the funds to restore the 500-year-old Surp Giragos Church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

But the community fears any application for help would result in the church being restored as a museum rather than a place of worship that would serve the community, as happened with the Surp Church on the island of Akdamar in the eastern province of Van.

Gunay said if the community filed a request, his ministry would be glad to be of assistance, adding, “We have the utmost respect for all beliefs.

Historic Ani Ruins get a new face-lift

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started renovation work on the Ani Ruins in the Eastern Anatolian city of Kars, while trying to figure out a quick solution for the quarries on the Armenian side of the border that threaten the historic ruins.

The Tigran Honents church in the area will have drainage dug around its walls and its surroundings will be cleaned. The original floor of the entrance will be surfaced.

The Ebul Menucehr Mosque will have its roof cleaned in order to make the original overlay visible. Maintenance to its minaret has already been carried out and earth in the ground floor rooms was removed. The mosque's floor is also being renovated after the detachment of the cement laid earlier.

Also, work is in progress for the structural fortification of Seljuk Palace's as well as surveying, restitution and renovation of the churches of Ebulhamrent and Prikitch.

The ministry has new plans to publicize the area to the world more efficiently. A nearby village, Ocaklı, will be undergirding for cultural and socio-economic development. Besides that, training programs will be arranged for the local community with aims of better preservation of historical buildings.

International symposiums, photography exhibitions, increasing the number of publicity brochures and billboards, manufacturing souvenirs and producing written and visual media products are being planned on for the upcoming years to attract more tourists to the ruins.

Open air museum
The ministry will form a center for research, documentation and publicity and create a data bank for research. The team from the Global Heritage Fund is working on some of the monumental buildings' and the rampart's three dimensional modeling. The west and northwest fronts of the cathedral are being reinforced in collaboration with the Sorbonne University of Paris and the World Monuments Fund has joined the project.

Quarries in Armenia
Orhan Düzgün, director general of cultural assets, said a board of project coordination and consultancy was formed for Ani and it has prepared a report and a plan of action on the subject.

Düzgün said the matter of the Armenian quarries' negative effects on historical artifacts is among the short term subjects.

The report said the quarries enlarge day by day, splitting the topography and also damaging the spectacular natural landscape.

It is demanded by the report that the matter will be carried to international arenas and the quarries must be stopped.

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