Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning: Expropriated Churches will be Restored to Their Original Condition
DIYARBAKIR (A.W.)—Turkey’s Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning said in a statement, that the churches in Diyarbakir’s Sur district will be restored to their original condition. Istanbul’s Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper said that the Ministry also announced that they are not considering using the churches “for any other purpose.”
The interior of the Surp Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church (Photo: Nanore Barsoumian)
According to Agos, ethnic-Armenian Member of Parliament from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Garo Paylan brought this decision to the parliament and asked Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning about the grounds for expropriation and the future of the churches. The Ministry responded to Paylan’s question and said that the churches would not be closed down and that “destroying the cultural heritage in the region is out of question.”
A list of lands and buildings in the Sur district—including the Surp Giragos Armenian Apostolic and the Armenian Catholic churches—were expropriated by the Turkish government in March. Agos had reported that an “urgent expropriation” cabinet decision was taken regarding 6,300 plots of land, citing the March 25 issue of the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey (T.C. Resmi Gazete), the country’s official journal that publishes new legislation and official announcements. The Surp Sarkis Chaldean Church, the Virgin Mary Ancient Assyrian Church, and the city’s Protestant church were also reportedly expropriated.
In late March, Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Cultural Heritage Director Nevin Soylukaya told Agos that some properties belonging to the municipality have also been expropriated, and that the local government will initiate legal action. She also urged owners of other expropriated properties to take legal action.
Armenian Weekly contributor and member of the Surp Giragos Church reconstruction project Raffi Bedrosyan said there will be a strong effort to reclaim the lands. “All legal and political channels will be mobilized within Turkey and internationally to stop this legalized robbery,” Bedrosyan told the Weekly in March.
On Feb. 14, reports emerged that the Armenian Catholic Church of Diyarbakir had suffered extensive damages during clashes between Turkish armed forces and Kurdish militants. A series of images depicting the extent of the damage to the church were posted on the “Armenian Church Surp Giragos and Surp Sarkis in Diyarbakir” Facebook page.
Source: Armenian Weekly
Link: Turkish Ministry: Diyarbakir’s Churches Will Not Be Closed Down