Akhtamar's Surb Khach Church will not become a mosque, as it is included in the UNESCO list, Hakob Chkryan, specialist of Turkish sciences, said at a press conference on Tuesday. To get rid of the church, the Turks will have to destroy it from the fundament, instead of trying to turn it to a mosque, he said, adding the whole world is knows it is an Armenian church. The specialist underlined that the cross that has not yet been placed on the church dome was made in 2007. Andranik Manukyan, artistic director of Sasun folk song and dance ensemble, Turkish vendors sell to tourists a $80-$100 book about the needlework an tapestry in Van and presents them as Turkish masterpieces of art. Citing Turkish media reports of 1914, Chakryan said 2,538 Armenian churches and chapels were located in the Asian part of Turkey. The cultural monuments did not survive the massacres in 1915. The UNESCO report said 531 Armenian churches remained in that territory in 1974, compared to current four.

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