Single-day rite delayed in Aktamar
The single day rite at Holy Cross Church in the Aktamar Island on the Lake Van was postponed due to the referendum on the constitutional amendment law, reports Turkish Anadolu Agency. The rite was scheduled for September 12, 2010.
Turkish authorities announced earlier that the historic Armenian church would be opened to religious worship for a single day as a symbolic gesture to the Armenian community and as part of Turkey's efforts to normalize relations with Armenia.
However, the referendum on the constitutional amendment law scheduled on the same day forced the authorities to postpone the rite in the church in order to allow local Armenians to vote in the referendum.
A press release of the Van Governor's Office said they mutually agreed with Archbishop Aram Atesyan of the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey to postpone the single-day rite from September 12 to the 19th of the same month.
Holy Cross Church was founded between 912 and 921 B.C. it was later reconstructed by Turkish authorities and reopened to public in 2007.
To date, no cross has been placed on the church dome.
