A church without a cross. The ancient Armenian Church of the Holy Cross was built between 915 and 921 C.E. on Akdamar island in the middle of lake Van, on eastern Turkey’s border with Armenia. Nobody took care of this magnificent building during the First World War when 1.5 million people were killed in what has been called “the Armenian genocide”. Heavy rains and strong winds eroded its structure and weakened the roof. Turkish authorities spent almost 1.5 million euro to finance its restoration that started in 2005. Despite this good work, controversy seemed to hover over the event: there’s no cross on the apex of the church’s dome, even if the Armenian Church requested such symbol to be put there. Akdamar is no more a place of cult (like Aya Sofia in Istanbul), there’s no need for a cross on a museum.

The re-opening event. Akdamar re-opened on Thursday, Mar.29^th. The Turkish and Armenian culture ministers, other Turkish functionaries, Armenian religious men and historians were present. Even patriarch Mesrob II, leader of 60.000 Armenians living in Turkey, attended the ceremony: he suggested an annual pilgrimage should be made to the church. The Armenian Church’s supreme leader Karekin II refused to be there: he didn’t approve the transformation of Akdamar Church into a museum. And on that very day, the church was also decorated with Turkish flags and a poster of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. There were no Armenian flags.

Edgy ties. Akdamar church is located on an island in lake Van, on eastern Turkey’s border with Armenia. There are no diplomatic relations between these two countries, divided by a border that was closed by Turkey to support Azerbaijan in the fight for Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993. The Armenian delegation had to pass through Georgia to reach Turkey.