“It belongs to us, you and all mankind”
Will the Armenian cross finally be put on the dome of the Akhtamar Church that was restored in 2007? Turkish Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Ismet Yilmaz doesn't have the answer to that yet.
"I can only say that we would like the monuments of ethnic minorities to have a better look. All monuments are going to be renovated. They are in our territory, meaning they are ours," says Yilmaz, adding that they belong to us, you and all mankind.
Yilmaz didn't know how many Armenian monuments there are in Turkey because "there was a time when lands of his country were owned by other nations." According to him, restoration of monuments requires time, money and goodwill. The Deputy Minister assures that there is will, money is being found, but restoration takes a long time.
There are experts in Armenia who have precise information regarding the Armenian monuments in Turkey. Will the Ministry work with the Armenian side on this issue? In response, Yilmaz said that they are ready to work.
Since Mr. Yilmaz holds an office in a ministry that also regulates issues related to tourism, Armenian journalists asked him what impact the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border would have on tourism. According to the Deputy Minister, the border opening will lead to an increase of the influx of foreign tourists coming to Armenia after visiting Turkey.
As far as the current influx of Armenian tourists visiting Turkey is concerned, Mr. Yilmaz was not able to state a concrete figure. There are 26 million tourists visiting Turkey each year and among them are mostly Germans and Russians. There are very few Armenians on the list of tourists.
According to Yilmaz, there are 50,000 Armenians visiting Turkey on an annual basis for purposes of work, seminars and more.
Mr. Yilmaz told the journalists that he would like to live in a better country and the only way for that is peace in the region, but his position on the Armenian Genocide is no different from Turkey's official position.
Shaking journalists' hands and hearing their viewpoints regarding the Armenian Genocide, he still thinks that Armenians massacred the Turks as well. Yilmaz says that the only thing that the Ottoman government did wrong in the beginning of the past century was deport the indigenous people.
Karine Asatryan
Ankara
