{"id":4648,"date":"2011-03-10T06:06:55","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T11:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648"},"modified":"2011-03-10T06:59:08","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T11:59:08","slug":"church-in-turkeys-southeast-preparing-for-religious-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648","title":{"rendered":"Church in Turkey&#8217;s Southeast preparing for religious ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\">VERC\u0130HAN Z\u0130FL\u0130O\u011eLU<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4649\" href=\"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?attachment_id=4649\"><\/a><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4655\" href=\"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?attachment_id=4655\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4655\" title=\"church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l\" src=\"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1-300x217.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1.jpg 414w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>After the church on Akdamar Island in Van, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbak\u0131r is now preparing for a religious ceremony. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation undertook the restoration of the church, bringing together Turkey and the Armenian diaspora. \u2018This church is the common heritage of humanity,\u201d says the foundation&#8217;s chairman, Erg\u00fcn Ay\u0131k<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Resurrecting memories of the Armenian presence in Southeast Anatolia, workers in Diyarbak\u0131r are putting the finishing touches on a $3.5 million restoration on what was once one of the largest churches in the Middle East, Surp Giragos.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0 Officials from Turkey, Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are expected to attend a Divine Liturgy to celebrate the church\u2019s reopening, which is scheduled for later this year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAfter the restoration process, we are planning to draw faith tourists from around the world,\u201d Surp Giragos Armenian Church Foundation Chairman Erg\u00fcn Ay\u0131k recently told the H\u00fcrriyet Daily News &amp; Economic Review.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The coming Armenian religious service marks a second for the region after the Divine Liturgy was held last September at the Surp Ha\u00e7 Armenian Church on Van\u2019s Akdamar Island, drawing top Turkish officials, Turkish-Armenians and members of the diaspora.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Unlike Surp Ha\u00e7, however, Surp Giragos will remain in the possession of the Armenian community after restoration is complete. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation coordinated the church\u2019s restoration, drawing funds from diaspora Armenians, as well as Diyarbak\u0131r Metropolitan Municipality, which is expected to meet one-third of the restoration budget. The Turkish government, meanwhile, has promised to provide 25,000 Turkish Liras toward the church\u2019s refurbishment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The church is the first in Anatolia to be restored by Armenians, Ay\u0131k said, adding that they initially had problems with the country\u2019s Culture Ministry.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cRight before the restoration we asked for support from the ministry but we were told to hand over the ownership of the church to the ministry in return for support. If we had accepted it, Surp Giragos would have opened as a museum like [Surp Ha\u00e7] in Van,\u201d the chairman said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Culture Minister Ertu\u011frul G\u00fcnay visited Diyarbak\u0131r to examine the restoration process at the church a few months ago, Ay\u0131k said. \u201cHe said he would provide a budget of 25,000 liras for the restoration, but we have not received it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Only family in Diyarbak\u0131r<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4650\" href=\"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?attachment_id=4650\"><\/a>According to some art historians, the church is the largest in the Middle East. The complex sprawls over 3,200 square meters and includes priests\u2019 houses, chapels and a school. The church was seized by the German army in 1913 and served as their local headquarters until 1918, when it was converted into a fabric warehouse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ay\u0131k also said Surp Giragos had several unique architectural features. \u201cChurches normally have one altar but Surp Giragos has seven altars. Its original roof was covered with the earth from around the region. We will do it again. The earth has been stripped of seeds to prevent the growth of plants. It should also be vented regularly, every year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The chairman, whose family is originally from the southeastern province, said the church was handed over to the foundation by the General Directorate of Foundations in the 1950s and continued providing church services until 1980.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By the 1980s, there were only five Armenian families left in the province; now, however, there is just one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIn accordance with the law of foundations, people had to live in the cities where they worked for foundations in Anatolia, but there was no Armenian society in the city. This is why the church was left alone, without a society, and looted by treasure hunters,\u201d he said, adding that only the Hatay-Vak\u0131fl\u0131k\u00f6y, Kayseri and Diyarbak\u0131r churches survived today among the 2,000 churches and monasteries that once dotted Anatolia.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThese churches do not just belong to us; they are the cultural heritage of Turkey. We should preserve them,\u201d Ay\u0131k said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ay\u0131k also said he had asked for help from diaspora Armenians living in different countries throughout the world.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey ask why we are restoring a church that does not even have a society and whether it will be turned into a museum,\u201d he said. \u201cI have explained to them the importance of protecting these structures and have tried to persuade them that it will not become a museum [out of the control of Armenians].\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The chairman, however, said the foundation planned to turn one of the chapels into a museum.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0\u201cWe will display the lifestyle of Diyarbak\u0131r\u2019s Armenians. There will also be concerts and exhibitions. In this way, the church will be able to finance itself,\u201d Ay\u0131k said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0Ultimately, the chairman said conduction such restoration would not have been so possible 10 years ago. \u201cTurkish society and Turkey is changing. People want to know about the societies that they live with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hurriyetdailynews.com\/n.php?n=church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07\">http:\/\/www.hurriyetdailynews.com\/n.php?n=church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VERC\u0130HAN Z\u0130FL\u0130O\u011eLU \u00a0 After the church on Akdamar Island in Van, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbak\u0131r is now preparing for a religious ceremony. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation undertook the restoration of the church, bringing together Turkey and the Armenian diaspora. \u2018This church is the common heritage of humanity,\u201d says the foundation&#8217;s chairman, Erg\u00fcn [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,22,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gunumuzde-bati-ermenileri","category-gunumuzde-bati-ermenistan","category-haberler"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Church in Turkey&#039;s Southeast preparing for religious ceremony - Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Church in Turkey&#039;s Southeast preparing for religious ceremony - Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VERC\u0130HAN Z\u0130FL\u0130O\u011eLU \u00a0 After the church on Akdamar Island in Van, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbak\u0131r is now preparing for a religious ceremony. The Istanbul Armenian Foundation undertook the restoration of the church, bringing together Turkey and the Armenian diaspora. \u2018This church is the common heritage of humanity,\u201d says the foundation&#8217;s chairman, Erg\u00fcn [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-10T11:06:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-03-10T11:59:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1-300x217.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648\",\"name\":\"Church in Turkey's Southeast preparing for religious ceremony - Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1-300x217.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-10T11:06:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-03-10T11:59:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/#\/schema\/person\/096f1d38a12cce57fb855b485ed24c9e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2011\/03\/church-in-diyarbakir-prepares-for-religious-ceremony-2011-02-07_l1.jpg\",\"width\":\"414\",\"height\":\"300\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Church in Turkey&#8217;s Southeast preparing for religious ceremony\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/\",\"name\":\"Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/#\/schema\/person\/096f1d38a12cce57fb855b485ed24c9e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?author=7\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Church in Turkey's Southeast preparing for religious ceremony - Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/akunq.net\/tr\/?p=4648","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Church in Turkey's Southeast preparing for religious ceremony - Bati Ermenistan Ve Bati Ermenileri Sorunlari Ara\u015ftirmalar Merkezi","og_description":"VERC\u0130HAN Z\u0130FL\u0130O\u011eLU \u00a0 After the church on Akdamar Island in Van, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbak\u0131r is now preparing for a religious ceremony. 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