ISTANBUL (Armradio) — The Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul has sent a note to the Turkish government and requested clarifications regarding the decision to expropriate the Armenian Sourp Giragos Church in Diyarbakir, Rober Hatechian, editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Marmara daily, told Public Radio of Armenia.

He added, however, that the Patriarchate has not received any explanation so far.

After years of struggle the Armenian Sourp Giragos Church was renovated and reopened in 2011, but has since been damaged in clashes between Turks and Kurds.

Hatechian said the national minorities are worried about the move, but don’t believe the government will manage to expropriate all 6,300 plots of land “with one shot.”

“The properties, namely the Armenian Sourp Giragos and Sourp Sarkis Churches will belong to the Armenian community, and I don’t believe any state body will suddenly confiscate them. I don’t see the danger. But I think we have to wait for another couple of days for explanations from the government,” Hatechian said.

“With this step Turkey showed that its policy is the same as it was 100 years ago,” historian Vahan Melikyan told reporters in Yerevan.

“This is a serious threat to the dialogue between the Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian communities. This is a failure of an attempted dialogue between civil societies Turkey had imitated. Turkey behaves like a rightful heir of the Ottoman Empire,” he said.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Get notified of the latest updates from MassisPost.

You May Also Like

SDHP Leaders Meet Uruguay General Assembly Senate Member Rafael Michelini

Recently, Social Democrat Hunchakian Central Committee member Diego Karamanoukian along with SDHP…

European Parliament Votes Overwhelmingly to Ratify EU-Armenia Accord

STRASBOURG — The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to ratify a…

Armenian and Iranian Top Security Official Discuss Economic Cooperation

YEREVAN — Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan has…

AMAA 104th Annual Banquet to Honor the Legacy of Edward Avedisian

By PHYLLIS DOHANIAN As children we were often asked what we wanted…