Turkey’s Syriac Christian community has secured approval from both the Prime Minister and the President for the construction of its first church in the Yeşilköy neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

The church site will be allocated to the ancient community by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, while construction expenses will be paid for by the Syriacs. An official from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, who wanted to remain anonymous, told HDN that they are searching for a suitable location for the new church.

The church architecture is planned to bear traces of the Syriac’s thousands-of-years-old culture, while the construction is set to begin as soon as suitable lands are allotted.