Diyarbakir’s Surp Giragos Armenian church expropriatedMarch 29, 2016 - 11:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Surp Giragos Church, the largest Armenian church in the Middle East, is among the buildings in Sur province of Diyarbakir that were expropriated by the decision of Turkey’s cabinet. Syriac, Chaldean and Protestant churches were expropriated too, Agos reports. While clashes and curfews continue in Diyarbakir, the cabinet took an urgent expropriation decision. Abandoned for years, the church was finally restored and opened to worship in 2011. According to the cabinet decision published in Official Journal on March 25, an “urgent expropriation” decision is taken concerning 6.300 plots of land in Sur province. With this decision, many properties in Abdaldede, Alipaşa, Cemal Yılmaz, Camikebir, Cevatpaşa, Dabanoğlu, Hasırlı, İnönü, İskenderpaşa, Lalebey, Malikahmet, Özdemir, Süleymangazi, Savaş, Şemhane and Ziyagökalp neighborhoods and two neighborhoods in Yenişehir province were expropriated too. Speaking to Agos, Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Cultural Heritage Director Nevin Soylukaya stated that all churches and properties belonging to foundations have been expropriated. Soylukaya further noted that some properties belonging to the municipality have suffered the same fate, adding that they will initiate a legal action and urging the owners of properties to do the same. Sur is the only center that has places of worship for non-Muslims. Surp Giragos Church, Surp Sarkis Chaldean Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, Virgin Mary Ancient Syriac Church and Protestant Church in Sur are currently closed to worship. Related links: Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day May 17 commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union on May 17, 1865. Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. |