DER ZOR, Syria (A.W.)—Der Zor’s (Deir ez-Zor) Armenian Genocide Memorial Church (Holy Martyrs), which was severely damaged over the last three years in the Syrian Civil War, has been liberated according to local reports.
Al-Masdar published photographs of the exterior of the liberated church on Monday (Photo: Al-Masdar)
The Al-Masdar news agency, which has extensively covered the Syrian War on the ground, published photographs of the exterior of the liberated church on Monday.
Al-Masdar published photographs of the exterior of the liberated church on Monday (Photo: Al-Masdar)
Two days earlier, on Nov. 3, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the Syrian Armed Fores liberated the eastern city, which is widely considered the last major ISIS stronghold in Syria.
Al-Masdar published photographs of the exterior of the liberated church on Monday (Photo: Al-Masdar)
“Units of the Syrian Arab Army, in cooperation with the allied and supporting forces, have accomplished the mission of fully liberating Deir ez-Zor city from [the] ISIS terrorist organization,” a military source said on Friday, as cited by the state news agency.
Al-Masdar published photographs of the exterior of the liberated church on Monday (Photo: Al-Masdar)
The Al-Masdar photographs show extensive damage to the church, which was first targeted by ISIS militants on Sept. 21, 2014. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian issued a statement at the time, condemning the destruction of the church, which housed the remains of victims of the Armenian Genocide, calling it a “horrible barbarity.”
Al-Masdar published photographs of the exterior of the liberated church on Monday (Photo: Al-Masdar)
Nalbandian had called on the international community to cut the Islamic State’s sources of supply, support, and financing, and eradicate what it referred to as a disease that “threatened civilized mankind.”
The church was built in 1989-90, and consecrated a year later. A genocide memorial and a museum housing remains of the victims of the genocide was also built in the church compound.
The first photos of the destruction of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Der Zor emerged on Sept. 24, 2014
Thousands of Armenians from Syria and neighboring countries gathered at the memorial every year on April 24 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.
Armenians commemorating the genocide at the Memorial Church on April 24, 2004. (Photo by Studio Ashnag)
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians perished in Der Zor and the surrounding desert during the genocide. In the summer of 1916 alone, more than 200,000 Armenians, mostly women and children, were brutally massacred by Ottoman Turkish gendarmes and bands from the region.
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Source: Armenian Weekly
Link: Photos: Der Zor’s Armenian Genocide Memorial Church Liberated by Syrian Armed Forces