Thousands of families in Van ready to host Armenians on September 19

Four thousand families in Van, Eastern Turkey, have expressed willingness to host those Armenians who will on September 19 arrive in Van to participate in a liturgy ceremony to be served in newly renovated Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Church on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van.

According to Turkish media the campaign is organized by local daily Van Times.

Aziz Aykach, Chief Editor of Van Times, said their initiative is backed both by district administration of Van and by local organizations. Saying that their aim is to host 5,000 Armenians due in Van on that very day, Aykach underlined that the initiative has kicked up interest among the citizens of Van.

“Many people express willingness to host Armenians. But we do not accept every application. We find out which houses are comfortable for hosting Armenian tourists. Currently we are ready to host 2000 Armenians,” said Aykach.

“The aim of this campaign is to meet again with old-time neighbors and sooth some current disagreements. We want to bury the past events in the history. The Armenians can easily come to our state.”

Earlier Aziz Aykach had said that Van Times, which is currently published in four languages – Turkish, Kurdish, Persian and English - will on the occasion of the liturgy service on September 19 be published also in Armenian.