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Leadership and activists of Turkeyâ€™s Nationalist Movement Party to perform Friday namaz on border with Armenia

30 September 2010 08:24 (UTC +04:00)

MHP leader Devlet Bahceli is also expected to attend the Friday namaz in the ruins of Ani, which is located in Kars region and called by Armenians â€œancient Armenian cityâ€. 5000 people from Kars and surrounding regions, Azerbaijan are expected to attend the namaz. Devlet Bahceli will also start in Kars the parliamentary election campaign, which will be held in June, 2011.

Chairman of MHPâ€™s organization in Kars Oktay Aktash said that the namaz would be performed in Fethiye Djami, the historical Great Cathedral. When Seljuk ruler Sultan Alparslan conquered Anatolia in 1064, he lowered the cross and performed namaz in the Great Cathedral.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertogrul Gunay said a mass political event in Ani could be contrary to the Constitution and law on political parties. He added that if someone wants to perform Namaz individually he can enjoy with this right. MHP Secretary General Cihan Pachachi said the minister of culture and tourism didnâ€™t know forms of worship. â€œThe Friday Namaz can not be performed individually. It should be performed by a large group of peopleâ€. MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalchin also said that they didnâ€™t need to get governmentâ€™s permission to perform Namaz in Ani: â€œIt was clearly described in Point 2 of Article 24 of the Constitution. We donâ€™t intend to use religion for political goals as Gunay claims. There will be only Turkeyâ€™s national flag, but not the partyâ€™s flags. We will visit Alican border check-point to demonstrate our refusal of negative tendencies in the Turkish-Armenian relationsâ€.