Armenians Conquer Mount Ararat, Receive Death Threats
Aug 11th, 2010 | Category: Featured NewsBy Eva Sahakyan
YEREVAN, August 11–A few days ago a group of Armenians reached the summit of Mount Ararat. According to Asbarez “Ararat 11,” as the members of the group call themselves, consists of representatives of the Armenian Diasporas in Southern California, New Jersey, Fresno and Canada.
On the third day of the hike the summit of Ararat was conquered, where “Ararat 11″ raised the flags of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Each member of the group had his reason for joining the hike. But most of them just wanted to feel that once Ararat used to belong to them.
As was expected the event was not welcomed by Turkish authorities. The fact that infuriates them is that “Ararat 11″ climbed the mountain without permission, which was received at first and was later annuled by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism.
According to the Turkish Habermynet newspaper, Mehmed Erat, head of the Chamber of Trade and Industry in Agri province, said, “We want to believe that this is not true. If it turns out to be true, we know how to lower the Armenian flag and to raise the flag of Turkey in its place.”
Erat also added that if people in Agri learned something like that, they would bury the alpinists on Mount Ararat.
On July 18 a group of 14 students from Iran (seven Armenians and seven Iranians) also managed to reach the summit of Mount Ararat and raise the Armenian national flag there.
Yerevan Report
We Are Coming in Droves to Reclaim Mt. Ararat, Armenia,
We want our Land, Reparation and Restitution.
We will reclaim our lands no matter how many diplomatic and intellectual gymnastics you indulge in to deny the undeniable.
To the Turkish occupiers: Your predecessor Talaat Pasha promised to allow a single Armenian to survive the Genocide–as a museum exhibit. We have lived in Asia Minor for 4,350 years–millennia before your marauding Central Asian ancestors knew there was a world outside their wilderness homeland. We will reclaim our lands no matter how many diplomatic and intellectual gymnastics you indulge in to deny the undeniable.