On October 1, Chairman of the Nationalist Movement (MHP) and his party fellows said a Friday prayer in the Cathedral of Ani, CNNturk reports.

In his speech, the nationalist leader criticized the Turkish authorities for the liturgies in Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Church and Sumela Monasteries.

He intends to visit Kars, Ardahan and Igdir before returning to Ankara.

As NEWS.am reported previously, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism permitted the leader of “Nationalist Movement Party” (MHP) Devlet Bahceli and forty heads of the party’s provincial offices to utter a Friday prayer in the Cathedral of Ani. The MP made such a decision to counterbalance the liturgy in Surb Khach (Holy Cross).

The Cathedral of Ani is an original pearl of Caucasian architecture. Ani was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey.

The Cathedral was founded by the order of King Smbat II and was completed under the patronage of the wife of King Gagik I, Queen Katranide. The cathedral was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was built by a talented architect Trdat, whose 10th century monuments have been argued to be the forerunners of Gothic architecture which came to Europe several centuries later.