Restoration Work Begins in Armenian Surp Sarkis Church in Diyarbakır

DIYARBAKIR  — Surp Sarkis Armenian Church, which is located in the Ali Paşa neighborhood of Diyarbakır’s Sur district and has a history of 508 years, will be restored. The Turkish Ministry of Culture donated 5 million TL for the restoration. $2 million is needed to complete the restoration.

Surp Sarkis Church has been in ruins after 1915. Although the church, which is one of the important registered works of the city, fell into ruin, it is one of the rare buildings that managed to survive with its historical columns.

Repair and restoration work of the church has begun. Before the restoration, a prayer was held with the participation of Turkish Armenian Patriarch Sahak Maşalyan. In addition to Maşalyan, members of the city’s Armenian community, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun and Sur Municipality Co-Mayor Gulan Fatma Önkol also attended the prayer. Calling for help for the restoration of Surp Sarkis Church, Maşalyan stated that the church is among the important works of the city and asked for its ownership.

Maşalyan said in his statement that they took the first step towards a new beginning. Stating that the Surp Sarkis Church was abandoned to its fate in the last century, Maşalyan said:

“Christians have had a church for over 500 years. In the last century, the church was abandoned and became like this. It was both heartbreaking for us and not something to be proud of for the people of Diyarbakır. There are wrongs in history that need to be repaired. One of these is to reveal the traces of civilization in these lands. Bringing more accurate, more realistic light to the history of this country is an important step. In ancient times, the quality of a civilization was measured by the beauty of temples and tombs.  Armenians from Diyarbakir somehow did this. Surp Giragos Church continues to be the largest Armenian church in the Middle East, this church is no less than that. However, it was abandoned due to the painful events and migration a century ago, but thank God, it is under the control of the Surp Giragos Church Foundation.”

Thanking the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the restoration of the church, Maşalyan said, “Every time we came here, we saw and appreciated the concern and effort from the authorities to raise and revitalize this church. It will be Diyarbakır’s honor to raise this church. This planning had been going on for a long time. After the necessary planning is made by the Governorship, we can start this work with the funds allocated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. We would like to express our gratitude to our Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and the Ministry staff,” he said.

Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun from DEM Parti stated that they, as the municipality, will provide all kinds of support for the restoration of the church and said:

“While I have been a civil society manager for years, I have put a lot of effort into this structure. Unfortunately, we could not follow a very serious path at that time. But we guarded this place, to prevent it from becoming more worn out and destroyed. Now for its construction… In the presence of you, I congratulate this first step of the Ministry and find it valuable. The first step has been taken and we, as Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, promise to embrace all the next steps together. Of course, this is not just a place of worship. It is a memory of history. It is one of the largest monumental buildings of this city. This place is the memory of our city. We must protect our memory and leave traces of this memory to the next generations.”

Explaining that the restoration work of the Surp Sarkis Church started in 2011, Diyarbakır Surveying and Monuments Director Cemil Koç said, “Our Ministry and Governorship have taken the first step. The projects were approved by the relevant institutions in 2022. Today, we have laid the first stone of the restoration with a grant support of 5 million. As the Ministry, we will continue to provide all kinds of contributions that we can in the future studies, in terms of completing the different funding sources and bringing them back to Diyarbakır culture and tourism.”

“AGOS”