Armenian and Turkish experts will restore the historical bridge between two countries that connects Ani ruins and Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Armenian Church on Akhtamar Island. The restoration projects are being accelerated, Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review reports.

“We can collaborate with non-governmental organizations away from the shadow of politics. We do not need to wait for the opening of borders for a peace passage,” the chairman of the International Council of Monuments and Sites Gagik Gyurjian told the Turkish daily.

Gyurjian involved in restoration process of Surb Khach says there were no debates whether to put the cross on the church. “The event has gained a political dimension, otherwise the cross would have been in its place in the opening,” he notes, expressing hope that finally cross will top the church before the service.

In his turn Armenian Monuments Awareness Project President Richard Ney considers that the historic bridge is “an international world peace passage rather than just a link between Turkey and Armenia.”