Medieval City of Ani Gets Ethnic Cleansed Online

According to Blogian:

A liberal Turkish newspaper is making fun of their government. According to Radikal, Turkey’s government has opened a website titled There is No Armenian Ani.

The sarcastic news is actually confronting the Turkish government for launching a website about the historic Armenian city of Ani – now on Turkish territory. The website features information about Ani’s churches and archaeology.

But the word “Armenian” is absent from the entire content of http://www.ani.gov.tr/, except for some bibliography sources.

All the photos here are via the Radikal website.

3 responses to “Medieval City of Ani Gets Ethnic Cleansed Online”

Abush Turker

October 14, 2010

A Letter to the Editor in response to the above article, by author Christopher Walker.

The Independent (London)
September 11, 1998, Friday

Sir: How amusing that the ancient Armenian city of Ani is being characterised as multicultural by a modern Turkish archaeologist (“Struggle for soul of a closed city”, 10 September), while the major culture of the site is ignored. Maybe someone will one day likewise look upon St Paul’s Cathedral as an interesting site of a Mithraic temple.

Any reputable historian or traveller knows that Ani is overwhelmingly an Armenian site. Lord Kinross, the biographer of Ataturk, pointed this out four decades ago, and has some dismissive words to say about the official Turkish line. When the frontier was originally delimited in 1921 the Turks (in the person of General Kiazim Karabekir) demanded the inclusion of Ani in Turkey for no other reason than that Armenians should weep at the sight of it from across the river. All parties recognised that it was without military, economic or geographical significance.

In these post-Soviet times, we’re meant to be able to tell the truth about historical matters. If Turkey cannot connect the adjective “Armenian” to Ani, isn’t it time for that incomparable medieval site to be handed to its proper owner, the Republic of Armenia?

CHRISTOPHER J WALKER
London W14

Reply
Hakan Abaci

April 22, 2011

Sir, it is even more amusing to find the word Armenian 63 times in the above mentioned web site. The site gives indeed a very good and objective history of the area including Armenian kingdoms and civilizations. This is a good example of biased attitudes of some western circles about everything concerning the Turks. But not of Lord Kinross ! In his book “Within the Taurus”, he gives a more balanced account of the area and its history for the ones who care to read rather than repeating third hand sources.

Reply
1. hv
  
  April 23, 2011
  
  Shouldn’t you be revising history books or something.
  
  Reply

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